Hoenn Tales
by Loveon
Summary: Moving to Hoenn from Sinnoh, Raven meets two siblings who plan to travel across Hoenn. Somehow they all begin traveling together, meeting lots of people and Pokemon. But none of them could ever think that two teams could end up causing so much trouble...
1. Prologue

Author's Notes:

Well, first things first. I'm rewriting the first few chapters of this story 'cause they were quite crappy. So if you suddenly get to a chapter and see that the writing seems a bit different, than I probably haven't rewritten that chapter yet. As I write this (August 18, 2009), I've only rewritten this chapter and the first chapter. I'm _also_ still writing new chapters for this story at the same time as rewriting it, so I think I'm a bit crazy. Anyways, I want to let you all know that.

Also! I'm calling Brendan's hat thing hair, so his hair is white. Crystal was renamed Pearl because I completely forgot that her name was Crystal and that the name Pearl was already shared with the rival from Diamond and Pearl.

So, on with the story now, shall we?

EDITYEDIT: There's a whole new story up for the written version of it. Yes, the rewrites were so drastic that if I didn't make a second story for it, there'd be gaping holes in this one. So if you value your brain, go read the rewrite. If not, enjoy reading the story without chapters breaks, ever since the site remove the hyphens I used to use for them.

No, really. Go read the rewrite. STOP LOOKING AT THIS, WHY YOU DO THAAATTT?

* * *

Prologue

'_And it's going to be rainy for the rest of the day! 'Course, that's nothing out of the ordinary for this time of the month in Hoenn! It's almost autumn in a couple of days but the heat'll make it still feel like summer!'_

'_Is that so? Well, the next song's a number one hit all around Hoenn! Here it is; Another Day, Another Castform!'_

"Ooh, I like this song," a woman said and reached out, turning up the radio that was in the car she was in.

A man sitting next to her, and driving the car, nodded. "So do I."

"Quick, let's turn around and go back home," a girl laying in the back seats of the cars mumbled, a book opened and lying across her face.

"How many times are you going to say that?" the woman asked and shook her head. "Raven, we aren't even in Sinnoh anymore. So even if you said that you forgot something really important back at our old house-"

"I forgot something really important back at our house."

"-we wouldn't turn this car around to go get it."

The girl, Raven, slowly rolled off the seats and fell face down into the space behind the two front seats. The woman turned around to look at her lay there and narrowed her eyes.

"Please get back in the seat and put your seat buckle on. What if your father ended up getting in a car accident and you were still laying there?"

"Dad, are you going to get in a car accident?" Raven asked.

Her father tightened his grip on the steering wheel. "Nope! Your father's the best driver around, never been in an accident once!" he said enthusiastically.

"Hey, Mom, Dad said he's not going to get in an accident and that he's never been in an accident."

Her mother shook her head and looked at her husband. "Why did you say that?"

"Well…" her father began slowly and looked at her quickly. "I need to keep my eyes on the road right now!"

She shook her head again. Meanwhile, Raven hadn't moved at all from her face down position. Once the song on the radio ended and the radio host began talking again, one of them spoke.

"Let's turn around and go back home real fast. I forgot my super important anti-car accident lotion at home and I didn't put it on any of us! So now-"

"No, don't worry. The anti-car accident lotion is in the trunk. We don't have to go back at all."

"…"

"Mudkip, use Water Gun!"

A small blue Pokémon took in a deep breath before shooting water at the Pokémon in front of him. The water struck the raccoon Pokémon with enough force to push it backwards a bit, but it shook its head and glared at Mudkip.

"Zigzagoon, Sand Attack!" a boy shouted and the raccoon Pokémon ran up to Mudkip and began kicking sand in its face.

"Minun, get Zigzagoon away from Mudkip!" a brown haired girl shouted. A yellow, rabbit-like Pokémon with blue ears nodded and ran over to the two Pokémon, head butting Zigzagoon away from Mudkip.

Another boy, who was standing next to the one commanding Zigzagoon, raised his arm. "Taillow, Wing Attack!"

A blue bird dove downwards towards Mudkip and Minun, hitting them both with its wings before flying back up in the air.

The brown haired girl looked at the boy standing next to her. "Brendan, you don't mind trying to work together with me a little more than you already are?" she asked, ending the sentence sarcastically. The boy stuck his tongue out at her.

"How about _you_ work together with _me_ a little more?"

"You little-!" the girl started and grabbed his shoulders, shaking him around. "I swear, putting up with you every day is the most annoying thing ever!"

The two boys across from them sighed. "You guys aren't gonna start one of your episodes again, are you?"

"No, we're not!" the girl said and let go of Brendan. "And what do you mean by "episodes"?"

"Never mind."

Thunder clapped and the four all jumped, as well as the small crowd of kids surrounding them, watching their Pokémon battle. It had been raining the entire time, yet none of them seemed really bothered by it at all.

Minun's ears twitched and she looked back at the girl. "Pearl, I think I hear a car coming towards us!"

She nodded. "Everyone, let's get out of the road!" she shouted and all the kids began moving to stand under a tree in front of a house. "…You aren't supposed to stand under trees during thunderstorms, but it's not like any of you'd listen to me."

A car came driving down the road, fast at first before slowing down. Houses lined both sides of the road that the kids had been battling at and the car stopped in front of one of the houses.

"Hey, I thought no one lived in that house?" a little kid asked.

"No one does," Pearl answered. "Our dad said a friend of his was going to move into it sometime this week, though."

The driver's door opened up and a black haired man came out of the car. He turned back to say something to someone in the car and looked back across the road.

"Hey there! What're you kids doing?"

Pearl frowned and looked back at all the kids. "Don't answer him, we don't know him."

"We were having a Pokémon battle!" Brendan shouted and Pearl sighed.

"I see! Sorry if we interrupted it!" the man shouted back. He looked at the house and then back at them. "If any of you'd like to come in from the rain, you can!"

"Okay, I'm going," Brendan said, oblivious to the glares Pearl was giving him. "Anyone else coming?"

"Actually, I'm gonna go home," one kid said.

"Me too. I'm hungry."

All the kids began muttering things and the group started to get smaller until it was only Brendan and Pearl standing there. The two looked at each other, shrugged, and began heading across the road.

A woman had come out of the car and opened an umbrella, holding it over the two. "Hi there! We're new here, moving into this house! You two live here too, am I right?"

Brendan and Pearl both nodded and walked with the woman up to the front door of the house, where the man stood, trying to open the door. A short girl stood next to him, not saying anything or doing anything.

When the door finally opened, they all hurried inside. The inside opened up into a large, wooden room. There was a large space on the left and on the right and a flight of stairs going up to the second floor.

The girl hurried upstairs, still not saying a word, while the man and woman both walked around the house. Brendan and Pearl looked around the empty house before looking at each other.

"Are you two related?" the woman asked. The two nodded and she continued talking. "We have a daughter; she was the one who just went upstairs, if you saw her. You can try and talk to her, if you'd like."

"Try?" Brendan mumbled and Pearl slapped his arm again.

The two walked upstairs to the second floor, which was eerily dark. All the doors up there were closed except for one, which Brendan and Pearl went over to. They peeked into the room to see the girl from before putting a backpack on the floor. Her hair was messy and black; starting at her shoulders, her hair started sticking out in almost every direction.

"Um, hi there!" Pearl said happily. "Your mom told us that you guys just moved here! It's nice to meet-"

The girl looked up and turned around, giving them a look that almost looked like she wanted to eat them. Pearl had stopped talking as soon as she looked at her.

"How old are you?" Brendan asked, crossing his arms over his chest. "8, 9 years old?"

"13."

"…You can't be 13! I've seen 9 year olds bigger than-"

Pearl grabbed Brendan and started whispering to him, "What the heck are you doing? If you keep it up, she's gonna kill us!"

Brendan rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Hey, kid, you have any Pokémon?"

"No."

"Well, I do! In fact, my sister and I are going to start traveling around Hoenn in a couple of days, as Pokémon trainers! I bet that if you and I had a contest to see who'd get all the badges the fastest, I'd win!"

The girl narrowed her eyes. "No, I'd win."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes," she said. "It sounds like you're challenging me."

"So it's a bet? Let's see who can do it the fastest!"

"Fine," she answered and continued glaring. "…Can you, maybe, leave me alone right now?"

Brendan blinked in surprise. "Huh, are you sure?"

Pearl grabbed the back of his shirt and began pulling him out of the room. "Well, it was nice meeting you! Say, maybe tomorrow we can get you a Pokémon? How's that sound?"

The girl turned back around and began looking through her backpack. Pearl smiled hesitantly and the two both hurried downstairs.

* * *

Author's Notes: So how 'bout you go read that rewrite now? Am I being pushy enough?


	2. Chapter One

Chapter One

"_You see, your father got accepted as a Gym Leader. Isn't that great?"_

_The girl began clapping her hands. "Yeah! But does that mean Dad isn't gonna be home that much anymore?"_

"_Well, I was just about to get to that part," the woman said and put her hand on the girl's head._

"_He got accepted as a Gym Leader in a different region. We've been trying to think of what to do and so we finally decided on a good enough plan."_

Raven lay in a sleeping bag in her room, looking up at the ceiling with a blank look. It was morning and, judging by the amount of sunlight coming in through the window, it was still pretty early. She could hear her parents downstairs talking to some other people. She was wondering who'd been coming to see them this early in the morning.

She sat up and stretched, looking around the room. The floor and walls were both made of wood, making the room dark even with the sunlight coming through the window.

Not wanting to go downstairs and watch her parents talk to other people, Raven began thinking of something else to do. When she finally thought of something, she stood up, headed over to the single window in the room, and opened it up.

And climbed out.

There was a roof that was under her window, slanting downwards and eventually ending. She looked back at where she just came out of and seemed confused by the way it looked, but shook her head and ignored it.

Raven carefully walked down the roof and saw a truck in front of her house. She knew it was the moving truck and immediately gained some kind of hatred towards it.

She continued downwards until she reached the end of the roof and looked over it. The roof hung partly off the house, covering a sidewalk that lined the sides and back of the house.

Raven remembered that she hadn't even seen a single sidewalk when they first entered the town. So sidewalks were only used for the outside of houses?

She looked at the house next to theirs, it also having a slanted roof leading up to a window. The distance between the houses wasn't very far, giving Raven an idea.

It wasn't a smart idea. It was more of a let's-test-my-luck idea.

Raven walked back up to her window, turned around, and started running down the roof. Once she reached the end, she jumped, trying to land on the other roof. She barely made it, her arms slamming down on the roof and leaving her to have to pull herself up on the roof.

Once she was on it, she walked up the roof to the window there. She grabbed the window and pulled it up, giving her access to whoever's poor house this was.

A white-haired boy, who was Brendan from the previous day, stood there, looking at her with an annoyed look. The two stared at each other, neither saying anything to each other.

"Good morning," Raven said and began climbing through the window.

"This isn't your house!" he shouted.

"Brendan?" a girl's voice called and the door to his room opened, letting in an older girl whose brown hair had odd blue streaks in it. She had a towel around her shoulders, covered in blue stuff.

She saw Raven trying to climb in through the window and gave her a blank look. "…I _so_ didn't need to see that first thing in the morning."

---

"So you moved here from Sinnoh?" the girl, who had introduced herself as Pearl, asked, tying her hair into pigtails.

Raven nodded absentmindedly, sitting at a table with Brendan's Mudkip in her lap. Mudkip was eating food of a plate that sat in front of her, causing Pearl to narrow her eyes at him.

"Mudkip, that's _her_ food," she said and Mudkip shrugged.

"She said that she'd share it with me," he answered.

Pearl sighed and looked back at Raven. "Well, today Brendan and I are going to be going shopping and stuff since we're going to be leaving tomorrow," she explained. "You know, to travel around Hoenn and stuff."

Raven nodded again and Pearl continued. "Maybe later we can get our dad to give you a Pokémon. Or we could catch one for you. How does that sound?"

"Okay…" Raven muttered and nodded.

"Is there something wrong?"

Raven looked up at her. "No, nothing's wrong at all."

Pearl smiled. "That's good. You looked a little bothered by something."

All of a sudden, Brendan ran in the room, fixing a green headband that he wore across his forehead. He stopped by the table that they were at and tapped on the table, getting Raven's attention. "Hey, we still got our challenge going on, don't we?"

Raven nodded quickly. "Of course. I wouldn't forget a challenge against a girl like you."

Brendan pretended not to hear what she said, although he was clearly wanting to say something back to her.

"Anyways…" Pearl said slowly, eyeing Brendan carefully as if she expected him to start attacking at any moment. "Maybe you should try to find your way around Littleroot Town, right? I'm sorry, I'd show you around but-"

"Then I'm off!" Raven said loudly and jumped up from her seat, knocking Mudkip out of her lap. "Mom, Dad, thank you for the food!"

And then she left the house.

"…There's something wrong with that girl," said Brendan.

"Well, that's nothing new," Pearl mumbled.

---

Raven wandered around Littleroot Town with a bored expression on her face. She looked left. Then right. Then left again. And sighed.

"So boring here…"

She blinked in surprise as she heard a scream from somewhere in the distance. At least, she thought she heard a scream. In a way, it sounded like a bird call. Yet, it wasn't.

Raven scratched her head and walked off in the direction of the scream. It brought her to the end of Littleroot Town, where the screaming became louder and more persistent. It was there that Raven something weirder than herself.

For whatever reason, a grown man in shorts and a lab coat was running around with several bird Pokémon and a small dog Pokémon chasing after him. He spotted Raven and ran over to a nearby tree, climbing up it quickly.

"Kid, can you help me, please?!"

"…Well, I'm going back home," Raven said and she turned around, getting ready to walk away.

"Please! Please, help me!"

"I'm hungry," she muttered and patted her stomach, which growled.

"Please, please, please help me!"

Raven sighed and looked up at the man. "Fine. What do you want me to do, call animal control or something?"

"No!" the man shouted and shook his head. He raised his arm and tried to point somewhere, although the bird Pokémon busily pecked at his arm. "My bag- ow!- it's laying right there!"

She looked over to where a brown bag sat on the ground and walked over to it, kicking it with her foot. "And?"

"Let out one of those Pokémon, please!"

"And then we'll do stand up comedy, but it'll be so bad that the wild Pokémon will run away!" she said sarcastically and rolled her eyes. Despite this, she bent down and took a random Poké Ball out of the bag. She held it out in front of herself and pressed the button.

The ball opened up and a white light came out, landing on the ground and, in less than a second, formed the shape of a penguin and disappeared. In its place was a small blue penguin Pokémon, who blinked in confusion a couple of times and looked behind itself.

"What the heck are you letting me out for!?"

"…Okay, I'm leaving," said Raven and she started to walk away yet again.

"No, no! Please, just give it a command or something! Save me, please!"

She sighed. "Mr. Penguin, do something please!"

The Pokémon frowned at her. "He's asking _you_ for help, not me! You do it!"

"No, you."

"You!"

"No, I said-"

"Will you both just quit it?!" the man shouted and suddenly fell out of the tree, falling in a painful looking position on the ground.

The man screamed as the Pokémon attacked him again. "Piplup, that girl… She's a Gym Leader's kid!"

The Pokémon, Piplup, looked up at Raven happily. "Wow, you really are?! Come on, let's show them what we can do!"

Raven stood there, confused, before shaking her head. "Um, okay… Piplup, use… bubble?"

Piplup took in a deep breath before it shot bubbles out of its mouth, which moved as a surprisingly fast speed and hit the bird Pokémon, who all squawked and flew away. The dog Pokémon, however, was still snapping at the man and now had his jacket in its mouth, tugging at it.

"Bubble again!"

Piplup repeated the move, hitting the Pokémon, who glared at them as it began to slink away with its tail between its legs.

The man sighed in relief and sat up. "Thanks you two!" he said and looked around himself. "Hm… Not a single scratch, although you both certainly took your time helping me out…"

"Don't complain, you're lucky I listened to you," Raven answered back and looked down at Piplup. "…Right?"

"Right!"

The man smiled hesitantly and went over to pick up his bag. "Anyways, thanks for helping! Raven, how's your family doing?"

"I don't know, why don't you-" Raven started and gasped. "Wait, how do you know who I am?!"

He tilted his head. "You don't remember? I'm your father's friend, Birch! Well, that's my last name, but that's how he introduced me to you, remember?"

"…No."

The man, Birch, sighed and scratched the back of his head. "Well, I can't expect everyone to remember, can I?" He looked over at Piplup, who stood there with its arms crossed over its chest. "Say, Piplup, you want to stay with Raven?"

"Who said I wanna keep him?" Raven muttered quietly and, judging by how no one said anything to her, she guessed no one heard her question.

Piplup looked up at her. "Well, I guess staying with her is better than staying with all those other weirdo Pokémon. I'd gladly stay with her!"

"Great!" Birch said and pointed to the Poké Ball Raven still had in her hands. "Raven, use that to return Piplup, okay?"

"But, why do I have to…?" she asked quietly. Birch was making movements that obviously showed that he wanted her to stop saying that and she sighed.

"Raven, say, I'd like you to come by my Pokémon lab later, okay?" Birch asked and pointed in the opposite direction. "It's in that direction, you can't miss it!"

Raven though for a moment. "…Lab?! You test on Pokémon?! You-"

"Please, stop," Birch said and held his hands up. "I really need to get back now, so please come by, okay? Like, say, 1:00? How's that?"

Raven didn't seem to be paying attention and he sighed. "Well, I'll see you then! Thanks for helping me!"

And then, he was gone.

"So, anyways…" Piplup said slowly and looked up at her. "Your name's Raven?"

Raven nodded and sat down on the ground next to Piplup. "That's right. I just moved here yesterday. But I hate it here so much. It's nothing like Sinnoh; it's way different!"

"Sinnoh?" Piplup asked and smiled happily. "I'm from Sinnoh too! I… don't quite know why I'm here in Hoenn though! But it's nice to have someone from the same place you're from, isn't it?"

Raven looked at the Pokémon for a moment, saying nothing. "Yeah, you're right. It is nice, I suppose."

"And-! With that, I shall make a proposal! Not a marriage one though!" Piplup said loudly and pointed in the direction out of Littleroot Town. "Up ahead, there's another town! It calls for us, it wants us to go! Can you hear it?"

"I can!" Raven joined in and stood up. "It does call for us! Piplup, are you thinking what I'm thinking!"

"That I am! And so, to the next town we go!"

"To the mysterious… BEYOND!"


	3. Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Much later on that day, Pearl and Brendan sat on the roof of their house, looking up at the sky that was beginning to change colors with the setting sun. Both of them listened to their father talking outside with Raven's mother, all of them wondering where Raven had gone to.

"I told her to stop by my lab at 1 o' clock but she never came…" Birch said sheepishly. "Pearl and Brendan haven't seen her either…"

"I should've figured that she'd sneak out of the house," Raven's mother said, sighing loudly. "I can't believe that I didn't even notice she was gone until an hour ago. Such a troublesome child…"

"Well, earlier today I gave her a Pokémon for helping me out," Birch explained. "I was wanting to give her a Poké Dex too and suggest that she go traveling but… Perhaps she's already left off somewhere?"

"She probably did. I'm sure she'll come back once she's hungry though, so it's not much of a problem… Say, would you like to have dinner at our place?"

"Sure, that'd be great!"

Brendan sighed and began shaking his head. "Guess we're having dinner over there tonight, huh?"

Pearl grinned. "Yeah. But… I don't know why, but I'm getting a feeling that that Raven girl isn't going to come back here when she's hungry…"

"So I wasn't the only one who thought of that…" Brendan answered. He stood up and squinted his eyes to see if his father was still in front of Raven's home; he was, still talking with her mother.

Brendan hurried up to his bedroom window, which was open, and leaned inside. He quickly pulled out a bag and sat down, opening it up and looking inside of it. Muttering to himself, he closed the bag, stood up again, and slung it over his shoulders.

"Well, shall we go?"

Pearl frowned at him. "Go where?"

Brendan rolled his eyes. "Candy land, that's where. No, let's go and find Raven! Come on, hurry it up Pearl!"

"But what's with the bag?"

"Well, I just figured that we'll start traveling right now," Brendan answered. "My bag already has stuff I need in it, so once we find Raven we can just continue on to the next town…"

Pearl stared at him blankly, but only for a quick moment. She, too, got up and headed over to where Brendan once. She reached up and flicked his forehead before folding her arms over her chest.

"But won't we get in trouble?"

"So? It's good to get in trouble once in a while!"

Pearl grinned at him before turning around and walking to her own bedroom window, which happened to be near Brendan's. She opened it up and pulled out her own backpack, checking it quickly.

"Fine then. Let's go!"

---

"Don't die on me, my friend! Our goal is not far from here; just hang on a bit mo-"

"Will you just shut up?!" Piplup snapped. He sighed and shook his head. "You're more annoying than I thought you were…"

"I'll take that as a compliment," Raven answered and nodded.

The two sat in the middle of a road, trees and tall grass surrounding the path they sat on. It was dark outside and not a person, or Pokémon, was in sight.

"Like, wouldn't it be awesome if we couldn't find anything to eat and we had to fight each other and the winner got to eat the other?"

"No," Piplup answered. He then realized what she said. "Wait a second, that's just sick! I would eat myself before I'd eat you!"

Raven frowned. "But I'm full of nutrition!"

"Um, no. Just no."

The two simply stared at each other with blank looks on their faces. Eventually, their silence was disturbed as something in the grass began moving.

"Take Piplup first! He's rich in omega3!" Raven screamed.

"You jerk!" Piplup snapped.

The two continued arguing as a boy stepped out from the grass. In fact, this boy was Brendan. Whose sister emerged from the grass mere seconds after him.

However, Raven and Piplup were too busy arguing to notice their presence.

"Will you two stop it?!" Brendan shouted and the two quickly stopped.

"…Who are you?" Raven asked.

Brendan blinked at her. "…You're kidding, right?"

"You wish I was."

Brendan sighed and shook his head. "Anyways. Raven, your mom and my dad are both looking for you! You know, 'cause my dad told you to come to his lab at 1 o' clock!"

"…Ah, yeah, Professor Birch did, didn't he?"

Raven sighed. "Well, I guess we should go back then…"

"Nope. Can't do that," Brendan answered.

"Why not?"

Brendan didn't answer and looked over at Pearl. Pearl glared at him and sighed.

"Well, we kind of… sort of… Well, let's just say we ran away from home! And, like, if we go back, we're gonna get it a lot of trouble!" Pearl said and started laughing. "Luckily, our dad's pretty easygoing when it comes to us disappearing but on the other hand, you might die if you go home!"

Raven was suddenly standing in front of Pearl, grabbing onto her jacket. "So… you've seen the true beast that is my mother, haven't you?"

"Um… sure?"

A rumbling noise was heard and Pearl looked down at Raven. "…Was that…"

She nodded. "My stomach, yep!"

The other three all sighed at the same time. Piplup began walking down the path, being followed by Brendan. "Come on then! Let's go!"

"…Where to?" Raven asked, still holding onto Pearl's jacket as they began following them.

"Where do you think?"

Raven gasped happily. "Back home to Sinnoh!"

"Wrong!"

"I hate you."

---

At least five minutes later, the group reached the next town, Oldale Town, and had gone into the Pokémon Center. It was here that they faced their next problem.

"What's a Poké Ball?"

Brendan narrowed his eyes at Raven. "Joking again?"

"No, I'm not! I don't remember having a Poké Ball for Piplup!"

"Professor Birch gave you my Poké Ball!" Piplup snapped. "Don't tell me you lost it already!"

"The only thing he gave me was a really mean Pokémon and a marble!" Raven whined and took out a tiny ball. "See?!"

"Raven?"

"What?!"

"That's the Poké Ball, you dumb ass!"

Raven suddenly looked surprised and started nodding. "Ohhh. So this is… a Poké Ball…"

Surprisingly quickly, Raven returned Piplup to the Poké Ball and handed it to the nurse working at the Pokémon Center, who informed them that she could get Piplup tomorrow morning.

Pearl had gotten them a room to stay in and, after they ate some food, they sat on their own bed in the room. The room had two bunk beds, with Pearl and Brendan sleeping on one and Raven on the other.

"So…" Brendan started as he got in bed. "Raven, you said you moved from Sinnoh, right?"

Raven nodded. "Right. I lived there since I was born so…"

"Right!" Pearl said happily and nodded. "You were probably upset about having to move to a completely different region, away from your friends."

"Wait a sec," Brendan interrupted. "Raven has friends?"

Raven ignored his comment. "Yeah… it was just out of the blue too… My mom and dad just suddenly told me one day that we were moving away…"

None of them said anything for a moment.

"Um… Hey, tomorrow morning, I'll show you my Pokémon, how about it?" Brendan suggested.

Raven frowned but nodded. "Fine. Let's see what the girl has for Pokémon, besides that crazy blue one from this morning.

"What, you mean Mudkip?" Brendan asked. "Yeah, he is a bit crazy and-… Hey, who're you calling a girl?!"

"I see no other women in the room right now so I must be talking about you!"

"Oh, is that so?! Well, I see a big, hairy monkey sitting across from me!"

"That's not an insult. I happen to like monkeys."

Pearl sighed. "Will you two just be quiet?! I swear, listening to you is like listening to a bunch of angry Taillow…"

With that, Pearl turned off the light and they all laid down, trying to go to sleep.

"…At least an angry Taillow looks manlier that Brendan does," Raven muttered.

"What was that you just said?!" Brendan shouted.

"If you two don't stop," Pearl snapped and sat up. "You'll wake up in a crate going to Kanto."

That was enough to silence the two.

---

"_What do you mean we're moving?! We can't move away!"_

"_I'm sorry, Raven," the woman said and frowned. "Please don't be too upset. You'll like it in Hoenn, I'm sure of it."_

_Raven shook her head and jumped up. "No! I won't like it there! I'll hate it!"_

_With that, Raven spun around and began hurrying off._

"_Raven, you stop right there! I'm not done talking!"_

"_I don't care if you're not done!" Raven shouted. "I don't want to hear the rest of it!"_

_Raven reached a door and swung it open, running outside and slamming right into her father._

"_Ah, Raven!" he said and tried to hug her. "Did Mom tell you the good news?"_

_Raven pushed him away. "Leave me alone! I… I hate you!"_

_Raven ran off, leaving her father and mother staring at her in surprise._


	4. Chapter Three

A/N: Okay, so I suppose I should mention this now.. I know Brendan's "hair" is a hat, but I'll call it hair throughout this story. (What kind of hat is that anyways?!) Also, Pearl would be Crystal, the girl from... you know, Pokemon Crystal. Why I named her Pearl when that the blonde haired rival's name is simply my terrible memory. Sooo... yes.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon. Do I have to put this in everytime I add a chapter?

--

Chapter Three

The route leading to Petalburg City had a lot of tall grass, of which several other kids were wandering through. Raven excitedly ran over to one of the areas of grass and dropped down on her hands and knees, beginning to look through it.

"Can I ask _what_ in the world you're doing?" Brendan asked, walking up to her and watching her in confusion.

"Searching for Pokémon!" Raven answered. "My friends and I used to do this all the time and find Pokémon. Then we'd see if we could run away from it since we didn't have any Pokémon.."

Brendan's look softened as he continued watching her. Pearl grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled Raven up from the grass, dragging them down away from the tall grass.

"No time to waste! We have to hurry!" she stated and the two pulled away from her.

"No need to rush, y'know!" Raven said, crossing her arms and facing Pearl. "Let's take our time!"

Pearl got extremely close to her face and her own expression darkened to a rather frightening one.

"Need I mention that _you_ don't have a bag? Or anything rather than two Pokémon?" she said in a scary voice.

"Uh.. Uh.." Raven began nervously and held up a Poké Ball. "I found a Pokémon before I got Oldale Town!"

Pearl sighed and stepped away from her, grabbing Brendan's shirt and continuing to walk down the route. "But still! Let's go!" she said and began skipping, now choking poor Brendan.

Piplup and Cherrim jumped up on Raven's shoulders and she began following them, Treecko following behind slowly.

Suddenly, Mudkip began looking around and the fin on his head started to twitch. Everyone stared at Mudkip as he continued looking. Then Mudkip jumped down from Brendan's shoulder and shot water from his mouth at a nearby tree. A bird Pokémon quickly flew out of the tree, missing the water and glaring at Mudkip.

"What're you doing?!" Brendan hissed at Mudkip.

"It's gonna attack!" Mudkip said and, like he said, the Pokémon dove down at them. It started slashing at Mudkip multiple times before backing up and tackling Mudkip. Mudkip tumbled over and quickly stood up. This time, however, Mudkip stood there and waited while the bird continued attacking him.

"Brendan!" Raven said, running over and tapping his shoulder. "I think Mudkip's waiting for you to tell him an attack!"

Brendan then blinked and nodded. "Right..! Mudkip! Water Gun!" Mudkip quickly shot water out again, this time striking the Pokémon. Something in Brendan's pocket began mumbling and he took it out.

"Swellow, the Swallow Pokémon," the machine said. "It circles the sky in search of prey. When it spots one, it dives steeply to catch the prey."

Brendan gulped and looked at Mudkip. "Mudkip, be careful!" he said and Mudkip nodded. Swellow then dove down again at Mudkip, who moved out of the way again.

Mudkip then gasped as Swellow suddenly picked him up in its claws.

"H-help me!" Mudkip shrieked as Swellow flew up with him.

"MUDKIP!" Brendan yelled and watched in fear as Swellow flew higher. Suddenly, a blast came out from somewhere and Swellow fell out of the air. Crashing to the ground and releasing Mudkip, Swellow quickly got up and looked around in confusion.

Mudkip had already gotten up and rushed back to Brendan. "What was that?!" he asked and Brendan shook his head.

"I.. don't know.."

"Hey, look!" Raven said and pointed over in the direction of the blast. A white Pokémon was standing by the side of a tree. The Pokémon also appeared to have a green head with two red horns on the front of its head and on the back.

"Let's see what this one is…" Brendan said and quickly pointed his Poké Dex at it.

"Ralts, the Feeling Pokémon," the Poké Dex said. "It uses the horns on its head to sense human emotions. It is said to appear in front of cheerful people."

"Cheerful," Treecko snorted and Brendan glared at him.

Suddenly, Swellow flew past them angrily and attacked Ralts. The tiny Pokémon quickly covered its head with its hands to protect itself. "I've got this!" Mudkip said bravely and shot another Water Gun at Swellow. Swellow then slashed out at Ralts once more before flying back at Mudkip again.

Treecko quickly ran over and stood next to Mudkip. "I'll help you!" he said and nodded.

"No!" Mudkip quickly answered. "I wanna beat this guy myself!"

Treecko looked at him in concern before quickly going to Brendan's side. Mudkip then closed his eyes and the fin on his head began twitching. Swellow got ready to strike at him and Mudkip opened his eyes. Backing up slightly, Mudkip quickly flung himself at Swellow and the two crashed to the ground. Swellow laid on the ground for a moment before attempting to get back up. Mudkip then stood up and shot another, and final, Water Gun at it. Swellow flew backwards and crashed into the ground, unconscious.

"..Woah.." Brendan muttered, staring in shock at Mudkip. "..Mudkip.." he continued and then ran towards Mudkip, scooping him up. "That was _awesome_!" he exclaimed, hugging Mudkip tightly.

"Really? You think so?" Mudkip asked.

"You bet I do!" Brendan said. "Great job!"

Mudkip shook his head and looked around. "What about the Ralts?" he asked.

"The Ralts?" Brendan began and looked around as well. He spotted the Pokémon next to a tree, injured but with Raven holding it in her arms. Brendan was about to begin heading over to her when he stopped, noticing that he was surrounded by many trainers and their Pokémon.

One of the trainers stepped forward, pointing at Mudkip. "Kid! What level is that Mudkip of your's at?" he asked.

Brendan tapped his chin for a moment before answering. "I've had Mudkip for a long time but that was his first battle, so-"

"You all hear that?!" the boy asked, spinning around to face everyone else and spreading out his arms. "It was the Mudkip's FIRST BATTLE!"

Everyone began cheering, talking about "how impressive that Mudkip was". The Pokémon that were there all looked at Mudkip in admiration, although a couple were giving him jealous glares.

"Well!" Brendan started and looked at Mudkip. "Looks like you're a bit of a star!"

"No, not a star!" Mudkip said and shook his head, blushing slightly. "It was nothing, really!"

Meanwhile, Raven had taken some berries out of her pocket and was holding them out to Ralts. "Here!" she offered but Ralts shook its head.

"Go ahead and eat it!" Piplup encouraged, patting its shoulder. "It'll make you better!"

Ralts hesitantly looked at Piplup before picking up one of the berries and eating it. The cuts and scratches that covered it disappeared, but only a little bit.

"Hey, Ralts!" Raven began, holding it out so that it was looking at her. "That's your name, right? Do you want to come with me?"

Ralts looked at Piplup and Cherrim questioningly at this. Piplup began nodding his head when Ralts looked at them and said, "It's okay! You'll be fine!"

"Yeah, you'll have lots of fun!" Cherrim added.

Ralts nodded at them before looking up at Raven and nodding at her. Raven took the Poké Ball that she had found earlier and tapped Ralts on the head with it. The ball opened, pulling Ralts inside of it.

Brendan and Mudkip were still surrounded by the crowd of trainers and Pokémon. Pearl stood nearby, watching them all with Minun and Bellossom on each of her shoulders. Raven walked over to Pearl, Piplup and Cherrim following closely behind her.

"Everyone's really impressed with Mudkip," Raven noted and Pearl nodded.

"Well, it's not everyday a Mudkip beats a Swellow, you know," Pearl said.

Soon the crowd began to thin as the trainers began to go searching for Pokémon or battling each other. Mudkip climbed up to cling onto Brendan's shoulder as he began walking over to Pearl and Raven.

"Brendan, Mudkip, that was so cool!" Pearl said, picking up Mudkip and hugging him tightly.

"It was nothing!" Mudkip said. "Besides, if that Ralts hadn't helped me, I would've been.."

"Breakfast? Lunch? Brunch?" Treecko suggested and Mudkip nodded.

"Mudkip's more of a snack if you ask me," Cherrim said, smiling widely and causing everyone else to look at him oddly.

"Speaking of that Ralts.." Raven began and held out its Poké Ball. "I caught it! Isn't that awesome?!"

Brendan and Pearl's eyes both widened as they stared at it. "That's great!" they both said and Raven nodded.

"But.. It's still hurt, so I need to bring it to a Pokémon Center or something like that."

Pearl spun around and began walking away. "Well then, let's hurry! Petalburg City's at the end of this route!"

"Right!" the others all said and hurried after her.

"So.. I'm a snack?" Mudkip asked, looking over at Cherrim, who nodded quickly.

--

Entering the Pokémon Center, Raven and Brendan both headed over to the front desk; Brendan returning Mudkip into his Poké Ball and Raven already having Ralts in a Poké Ball.

"Hello, and welcome to the Pokémon Center!" the woman standing there, who looked just like Nurse Joy, said.

"How'd you get ahead of us?!" Raven asked in shock and Brendan sighed.

"..What?" she asked. Pearl quickly came up behind Raven and covered her mouth.

"She's a new trainer, don't pay attention to her!" Pearl said, laughing.

Nurse Joy laughed slightly and asked, "Would you like us to heal your Pokémon?"

"Yes please!" Raven and Brendan both said and handed their Poké Balls to her.

"I'll tell you when your Pokémon are completely healed!" she said and the three nodded, walking over to sit on a couch nearby. There was a t.v. up on the wall, currently having the news on. The three began listening to see what was on the news, only to find it wasn't as important as something on the news would be..

"A woman in Mauville got a 'shocking' surprise when she found a Magnemite in her shower! Turns out the Magnemite came in through an open window.."

"They have nothing better to talk about on the news than Magnemites ending up in people's showers?" Brendan complained and sighed.

"I find it quite intriguing," Treecko replied, sitting on the floor with Piplup, Cherrim, Minun, and Bellossom.

"Intriguing?"

"What? It's a word, right?"

Brendan sighed and leaned back on the couch. Someone walked into the Pokémon Center and Brendan looked to see who it was, although he knew very well that he wouldn't know.

A man with black hair had walked in, looking around the center until his eyes landed on where Brendan, Raven, and Pearl were sitting. Brendan made a squeaking noise and quickly turned back around.

"What's wrong?" Pearl asked and Brendan gulped.

"Some guy just walked in and he looked over at us and I think he's coming over here!" Brendan squeaked. Pearl and Raven gave each other doubtful looks and turned around to look over the couch.

"Raven! What are you doing here?" the man asked. Pearl and Raven gaped at him for a moment, seeing as how he was now standing behind the couch.

"You know him!?" Brendan hissed.

"Eh.." Raven began and raised a hand, waving slightly to the man. "H-hi Dad!"

"DAD?!" Brendan screamed and began shaking Raven around. After he let her go, she coughed for a moment and laughed slightly.

"Y-yeah.. This is my dad.. Dad, these are my… swash-buckling pirate companions.." Raven began.

"I said we aren't pirates!" Pearl snapped.

The man laughed and said, "I'm Norman. You two are Birch's kids, right?"

"Oh man! He knows who our father is!" Brendan whined and slid down onto the floor, sitting next to Treecko.

"That's right!" Pearl said and stood up. "I'm Pearl and that's Brendan."

"He said he already knows Dad," Brendan mumbled.

"It's still polite.." Pearl hissed at him.

Norman crossed his arms and looked at the three. "All three of you disappeared from Littleroot Town.. You-"

"WE'RE SORRY!" the three all said and clasped their hands together. "REALLY!"

"It was all Brendan's fault!" Pearl said, pretending to cry.

"You're the big sister! You should've stopped me!" Brendan shot back.

"I left on my own!" Raven said proudly.

Some people had begun to watch what they were doing, some laughing and some thinking that they were just crazy. Piplup hopped up onto Raven's shoulder, causing Norman to gain a surprised look.  
"You have a Pokémon?" he asked and Raven nodded.

"That's right! I saved Professor Birch!" Raven said proudly.

"And _I_ saved Raven!" Piplup said and the two began arguing with each other on who did the saving. Brendan, Pearl, and Norman watched the two in confusion before deciding to simply ignore them.

"Well.. I'll have you two know that your father's worried about you," Norman said. "I suppose Raven got you two to leave with her? She's done that with the kids back in Twinleaf.. Gotten them to leave the town.."

"Actually, Raven was the one who left town first and we were worried so we went looking for her.." Pearl explained. She then clapped her hands together and said, "Norman, our Dad said you were going to be the new Gym Leader here!"

Norman nodded. "That's right. I-"

"BATTLE ME!" Brendan shouted, jumping up and pointing at himself.

Norman then smiled before answering plainly..

"No."

"Why not?" Brendan asked, becoming immediately disappointed.

"If you get four badges first, then I'll battle you," Norman said and Brendan began grumbling to himself.

Raven and Piplup had finished fighting and now glared at each other. Cherrim was laughing hysterically at what they had done while Treecko, Minun, and Bellossom looked at the two concernedly.

"Those two don't get along very well, do they?" Norman asked.

"Apparently not.." Brendan said and watched as Raven jumped up, Piplup and Cherrim climbing onto her shoulders.

"Okay! Let's go walk around and waste some time!" she said cheerfully, causing everyone to gape at her.

"W-weren't you and Piplup.." Pearl began.

"Killing each other just a few minutes ago?" Brendan completed.  
Raven shrugged. "Yeah, well now I'm feeling kinda motivated, you know?" she said and ran out of the Pokémon Center. "See you!"

Much to her surprise, she ended up running into a man in a suit. Raven backed up quickly and angrily looked up at the blue-haired man. "Hey!" she began but suddenly stopped.

"I'm sorry!" the man said and nervously laughed. "I wasn't watching where I was going.."

Raven eyed him suspiciously but stepped aside. "Yeah, yeah.." she mumbled.

"My name's Steven. Steven Stone, to be exact," he continued, obviously trying to start a conversation.

Piplup gasped in shock and began hopping around. "Y-you're Steven Stone?! YOU'RE AMAZING!" he cried happily.

Steven smiled and bent down to pat Piplup's head. "So you've heard of me? Interesting to know that a Pokémon's heard of me."

Piplup clapped happily and looked up at Raven. "Raven, aren't you excited? Steven Stone's right in front of us.

"Never heard of him."

Piplup screamed and dramatically fell to the ground, leaving him helpless to Cherrim's curious poking. He finally sat up and looked at her in disbelief. "…You're kidding me."

"Nope. I'm not."

"He's the champion of the Pokémon League!" Piplup snapped. "Duh!"

"_Former_ champion," Steven corrected, now petting Cherrim, who had decided to cling to his leg. "Wallace is the new champion."

"Right, right…" Piplup said and glanced up to see if Raven's blank expression had changed. It hadn't. "…Do you ever change that look?" Piplup asked, getting slightly annoyed.

"I'm a silent protagonist," Raven said and began walking away.

"Protagonist?" Steven asked and Piplup shook his head.

"She's out of her mind. Don't pay attention to her."

--

Raven leaned against a building and watched as Steven was surrounded a crowd of people, mostly little kids and older girls who appeared to be infatuated with him. Raven sighed and looked up at the building.

"Hey, do you know where the Gym Leader is?!"

Raven looked away from the building to see a brown haired girl standing in front of her. The girl wore an orange tank top and bandana and black shorts. Oddly, even the girl's eyes seemed to be orange.

"What?"

"The Gym Leader," the girl repeated, pointing at the building. "This is the gym, so where's the leader?"

Raven shrugged. "I don't know."

"I saw him in the Pokémon Center earlier!" Cherrim said loudly, walking out from behind Raven. The girl jumped back, obviously never noticing that he'd been standing there.

"That's Cherrim," Raven said plainly and shook her other leg, causing Piplup to come out from behind her as well. "And that's.. the trashcan where all my hopes and dreams were thrown in."

"THAT WASN'T EVEN FUNNY!" Piplup screamed and began shooting bubbles at her. Raven swatted them away and the two then began shouting at each other. The girl watched the two fight and then bent down to talk with Cherrim.

Eventually, the two stopped fighting and were both looking away from each other. Seeing that the two stopped, the girl then stood up and said, "My name's Nami. Who are you?"

"A silent protagonist," Raven answered and Nami began laughing hysterically.

"That's hilarious!" she said and abruptly stopped laughing. "Seriously, who are you?"

Raven thought for a moment before answering. "To tell the truth.." she began and stepped near Nami, whispering into her ear. "I'm Latias."

Nami gasped and stepped away from her. "S-seriously?!"

"That's right! My brother, Latios, and I are doing some secret.. Uh.. Research around this area! We needed disguises, so we transformed into humans!" Raven continued. Piplup was staring at her in annoyance while both Cherrim and Nami gave her the same shocked looks.

"What kind of research?" Cherrim asked and Piplup slapped himself in the forehead.

"_Secret_ research!"

Nami and Cherrim then looked at each other in shock. Nami bent down to Cherrim and said, "You hear that? Secret research!"

Cherrim nodded. "I know."

"Just how stupid are all of you!?" Piplup screamed and the three turned to look at him.

"My IQ's the same as my age!" Nami said and Piplup screamed. Nami then began waving her hands, saying, "Just kidding, just kidding!"

"If you're looking for the Gym Leader, does that mean you're challenging the gyms?" Raven asked.

"Yep! Then I'll challenge the Elite Four and become the champion!" Nami said proudly. "Although right now, I don't have a single badge! I just started yesterday, actually.."

Raven looked at the building again and simply said, "You need the first four badges before you can challenge the Gym Leader here."

Nami gasped and kicked the building. "That's not fair at all!" she shouted. "Why have a gym here if you can't even challenge it yet?!" Nami then slowly looked over at Raven. "Wait.. How do you even know this?!"

"Because. My secret research tells me so," Raven answered and Piplup shook his head.

Seeing as how Steven was still surrounded by his fans, Raven began walking off somewhere. Nami, Piplup, and Cherrim all ran after her, all shouting for her to wait for them. Raven pressed herself against the wall of a store and the other three did the same.

"What's it with you?!" Piplup snapped and Raven put a finger over her mouth.

"Is this a game?" Cherrim asked excitedly and began jumping around. "I love games!" Piplup began trying to hold him down while Raven peeked around the corner the building.

"Hey, Latias, what's wrong?" Nami asked.

"Her name's not Latias!" Piplup snapped, still struggling to hold Cherrim down. "Her name's Raven!"

"Whatever," Nami said and shrugged. "Anyways, what's wrong?"

Raven waved her hand for Nami to take a look at whatever she was looking at, which she did. Raven then pointed at two people standing on the outskirts of the city, who were dressed in black and white shirts and blue pants. One of them was talking into a microphone while the other was looking around.

"Pirates?" Nami suggested and Cherrim squealed happily.

"I love pirates!" he said and Piplup covered his mouth.

"They're up to something.. Fishy," Raven whispered.

"Was that supposed to be a pirate joke or something…?" Piplup asked but Raven ignored his question.

The two people then began walking off somewhere. Nami and Raven looked at each other, nodded, and got ready to follow them.

"What are you doing?"

The two screamed and spun around to see Brendan standing there, watching them. "Are you spying on someone or something?"

"Who're you?!" Nami snapped. "Latias's brother, Latios?"

"What?" Brendan asked in confusion.

"I told you, her name's Raven!" Piplup snapped.

Brendan looked around at each of them. "Latias? Latios? Why are you talking about those Pokémon?"

"Never mind that!" Raven said and pulled on Brendan's arm. "I spotted some fishy looking pirate people!"

"…Was that supposed to be a pirate joke?" Brendan asked and Piplup shook his head.

"Anyways.." Brendan began slowly and pointed back at the Pokémon Center. "Our Pokémon are healed. And since I'm _such_ a nice guy, I figured that you should get your own Pokémon."

"And how's that supposed to make you a nice guy?" Raven asked.

Brendan shrugged and started to push her towards the Pokémon Center. Raven stuck her heels into the ground, thus giving him a harder time of doing this. Nami simply watched the two along with Piplup and Cherrim until Brendan finally got Raven to go into the Center.

Once inside, Nurse Joy handed them their Poké Balls. The two both thanked her and released their Pokémon. Mudkip was grinning widely and suddenly began talking about a dream he had once he fell asleep. Ralts, on the other hand, backed away from Raven and hid behind one of the couches in the Center.

"You know, most Ralts are pretty timid!" Nurse Joy said as she watched Raven sigh. "I'm surprised that you caught one the way you did!"

"..What?" Raven asked and looked at her. "How do you know..?"

"That Mudkip told me!" Nurse Joy said and laughed. "He's really talkative.."

Raven shrugged and watched as Piplup ran over to Ralts and began talking to it. Nurse Joy also watched them before beginning to talk to Raven. "I assume you've just become a trainer?"

"I don't know."

"So, are you going to be defeating the Gym Leaders?"

"I don't know."

"Well, Rustboro City is where the first gym is located. Do you know how to get there?"

"I don't know."

Nurse Joy sighed and began writing on a piece of paper. She then held out the paper to Raven and started pointing at things on it. "See? First you have to pass through the Petalburg Woods.."

Steven had finally escaped from his fan group and stumbled into the Pokémon. Pearl, Brendan, and Nami were all crouching down to talk with the Pokémon. They all looked up in surprise when they saw him enter. In a very short moment, he had the three all screaming and shaking his hands.

"It's Steven Stone!" Pearl squealed and reached into her backpack, taking a book out. "See? I have photo collections of all my favorite people!"

"Nice to see your creepy obsession there, Pearl.." Brendan muttered and Pearl quickly punched his arm. "Anyways, Mr. Steven-!" Brendan shouted. "Battle me!"

Steven smiled but shook his head. "I'm sorry, I can't battle you."

"What, you don't have your Pokémon with you?"

"…"

"What is it?"

"It's just.." Steven began and sighed. "To put it bluntly, you're a beginning trainer. I'm not. You probably haven't battled too much. But I have."

Brendan screamed and turned away, mumbling something to Mudkip and Treecko. Nami's own Pokémon, an orange chicken, hopped over to Brendan concernedly. "Anyways.." Pearl began and grabbed Steven's hands. "It's really a pleasure to be able to meet you! It really is! Oh, I'm Pearl! The idiot boy is my brother, Brendan! And, uh, this is.." She then turned towards Nami. "..Who are you anyways?"

Nami laughed. "My name's Nami!"

Steven nodded. "It's nice to meet you all," he said. "I do have a question for you guys. Have any of you seen the Gym Leader of Petalburg City, Norman, around anywhere?"

Brendan mumbled something. "What was that?" Pearl asked.

Nami's Pokémon answered this. "He said that Norman went back to his gym," it said.

Steven nodded and began heading out of the Pokémon Center. "Thank you!"

--

Pearl tied a blue bandana over Raven's head. "There you go!" she said and backed away from her. Raven had changed her outfit and now wore a pair of black shorts, black and white gloves, a blue shirt and a blue bandana.

"This is stupid," Raven said plainly.

"Don't be so negative," Norman said, sighing.

Raven snorted as she tied a bag around her waist. Piplup, Cherrim, and Ralts stood next to her, all looking at her curiously. She looked down at them. "…What?"

"Are you going to put us in our Poké Balls..?" Piplup asked.

"..Do you want me to?"

"NO," the three all answered.

"So.. You're heading to Rustboro City, correct?" Norman asked.

"I guess.." Raven mumbled.

Pearl sighed. "That's where the first Gym Leader is located. I'm sure that one of these two will decide to challenge her," she said and pointed at Raven and Brendan.

Norman raised an eyebrow. "You aren't challenging gyms?"

"Nope!" Pearl said. "Truth be told, I don't have a clue on what I'm doing anymore."

"Well.." Norman began and pointed to a video phone in the Pokémon Center. "I'll call your father for you and tell him that you're okay."  
"Thank you!" Pearl said and waved to him as he walked away. She then turned back to see Raven, Brendan, and Nami playing rock, paper, scissors.

Suddenly, Nami stopped playing the game, took out a Poké Ball, and returned her Pokémon to it. "I'm sorry, but I forget that I had to do something!" she said and ran out of the Center. "See you guys!"

"…That was sudden," Brendan said and sighed. "Well, what do we do now?"

"If we run, we can get to Rustboro City before nighttime!" Pearl said and Brendan screamed.

"Let's do it!" Raven said and ran out of the Center, being followed by her and Brendan's Pokémon.  
"Hey! I'm your trainer!" Brendan shouted, running after them.

Pearl sighed and followed them. She then saw that they had stopped at the exit of Petalburg City and were talking to Steven.

"So, you're going to Rustboro City?" Steven asked and the two nodded. He then tapped his chin and mumbled, "That happens to be where.." He then stopped and shook his head. "Never mind."

"Where are you going to go?" Brendan asked.

Steven shrugged. "Probably somewhere to go look for stones. I like collecting them."

Pearl finally reached them and looked at the nearby forest, which seemed to stretch on for a long time. She hugged herself and said, "The Petalburg Woods are full of bug Pokémon!"

"You _are_ a bug Pokémon," Brendan said. Pearl then began chasing him, trying to hit him with her bag. Steven sighed and then began heading off towards a dock.

"Well, I'll be seeing you then!" he said and Raven nodded, beginning to follow the fighting siblings.

Steven watched as they walked into the forest and sighed again. "I do hope that they won't end up killing each other."


	5. Chapter Four

Me: Okay, Treecko or Mudkip? Which one of you wants to the disclaimer today?

Treecko: Great, now you're talking to yourself? Mudkip can do it.

Mudkip: Miss Loveon doesn't own Pokémon at all. She only owns the one single original character in this story so far.

Treecko: How pathetic is it that the "one single original character" shares the same name as her?

Me: ._.

* * *

Chapter Four

"Oh, come on. You've _got_ to be kidding me," Pearl grumbled and walked around. "There's no way.. I can not be lost.." she continued, slumping over and kicking the ground. She then dropped her bag, dramatically fell to the ground, and screamed, "Oh, who am I kidding?! I'm lost!"

"And those two rats ran off, thinking it was _funny_ to leave me behind! I'll EAT them when I find them, I swear I will!" Pearl screeched, pulling her hair.

"Um.. miss?" someone asked and Pearl turned around quickly. A little boy in a tank top and shorts was staring at her nervously. Pearl noticed a net that he was carrying and looked at the hat he was also wearing, giving him a bug catcher-ish look. "Miss, are you okay? You're talking to yourself.." he continued.

She then stood up and began brushing herself off. "No, I'm not fine! My little brother and my friend totally left me here and now I'm lost!" Pearl explained and ran over to the boy. She then grabbed him by his shoulders and looked him in the eyes. "I've been attacked by several Wurmple already. Do you _know_ how scary that is?!"

The boy laughed and said, "But bug Pokémon are awesome!" He then took out four Poké Balls and showed them to her. Each Poké Ball contained a small, red worm-like Pokémon in it and Pearl screamed. The boy laughed again and said, "I'm a bug catcher!"

_This boy __**likes**__ bugs! Ewww!_ Pearl shook her head a couple of times and smiled at the boy. "Say.." she began. "Do you know the way out of here?"

"You bet I do!" the boy said happily. "I come here every day to catch bug Pokémon!"

Pearl began talking to herself and quickly asked, "Could you show me the way out?"

"Sure!" the boy answered and started walking in a certain direction. "Follow me!"

"Yes!" Pearl whispered and quickly followed him.

---

"I wasted all my Poké Balls!" Brendan whined, walking around. Mudkip and Treecko were following behind him and the two occasionally looked at each other and sighed. "And now I think we're lost!" Brendan continued. "Pearl's seriously going to kill me when she finds me!"

"What about Raven?" Treecko asked. "Did you lose track of her, too?"

"Duh!" Brendan answered. "She ran off so fast I didn't even know she left!"

Treecko shrugged and quickly attacked a Wurmple that came up behind him. The Wurmple immediately fainted from the blow. "Stupid Wurmple.." Treecko grumbled and turned away from it.

"Nice attack there, Treecko," Brendan commented, watching the green Pokémon walk ahead of him.

Treecko shrugged. "It's nothing," he said.

Brendan sighed and picked Mudkip up, placing him on his shoulder. "You know, I think we're lost," Brendan said.

"No, really?!" Treecko snapped.

"I never noticed. We're lost?" Mudkip asked and Brendan sighed.

Brendan looked up at the trees, which blocked out the sunlight and made the forest extremely dark. "We're never gonna get out of here," Brendan said, sitting down.

"If you keep saying it, it really will happen," Mudkip said and Treecko attacked him.

Brendan began searching through his bag as Treecko chased Mudkip around, attacking him at every moment he had. "I don't have a map.." Brendan whined. "And there's nothing in here to eat! We're in trouble.." Mudkip and Treecko stopped running around and walked over to Brendan, who sighed and closed his backpack.

"Excuse me!" a girl's voice said and Brendan quickly turned around. A black-haired girl in a uniform was behind Brendan, nervously scratching her head. "Um.. are you lost..?"

"Unfortunately, yes I am," Brendan answered, sighing and standing.

"Aw, shoot!" the girl whined and pulled her hair. "I can't get out of here!"

"If you keep saying it-" Mudkip began and Treecko hit him.

"Cheer up!" Brendan said. "Let's try and get out of here together, shall we?" he continued.

She nodded happily. "Sure!" She then walked over to Brendan and held out her hand. "My name's Megan! Nice to meet you!"

"I'm Brendan," Brendan said and shook her hand. "Now.. let's find our way out of here!" he said and began racing off with Megan following him closely.

"Amazing how he won't get motivated until there's another person with him.." Treecko grumbled and walked after them, dragging Mudkip along by his tail.

---

"Argh! Where'd the Wurmple go?!" Raven grumbled angrily. She was on her hands and knees, looking around through a couple of bushes. "It ran over here, I'm sure!"

Nearby, Piplup was running after her, being followed by Cherrim and Ralts. Cherrim was talking quickly about bizarre things and soon Piplup turned around and attacked him. "Will you shut up?!" Piplup snapped, watching Cherrim laugh after being attacking.

Raven sighed and turned towards the two. "Well, we lost that Pokémon too," she said and sighed. "All the Wurmples run away from us! All the time!"

"It's because they're _afraid_ of us!" Cherrim said, clapping. "We're so strong!"

"I've been doing all the fighting, thank you!" Piplup pointed out, pushing Cherrim over.

Raven nodded and looked around. "Brendan and Pearl are gonna yell at me a lot for running off!" she said and laughed. "Pearl's really scary, too!"

Piplup, Cherrim, and Ralts all nodded and gulped. "Well, let's go!" Piplup quickly said and the four began walking through the forest.

Not long after, the group was charged at by another Wurmple. "I got it!" Piplup called out and pecked the Wurmple.

"I'll catch this one!" Raven said and reached at her side for a spare Poké Ball. "Eh?" she began and looked down at where she thought she had spare Poké Balls. To her surprise, they were all gone.

"Aw, there's nothing! I used them all!" Raven yelled and began checking her bag for anything. Meanwhile, the Wurmple that attacked them slowly began to crawl away and Piplup pecked it again.

Raven sighed and said, "Just let the Wurmple go." Piplup backed away from the Wurmple, which crawled away into the bushes quickly. "I don't have any Poké Balls!" she whined and rolled around on the ground. "They're all gone!"

"What a tragedy," Piplup said sarcastically and pecked at her head. "Now get up and act like a man!"

Raven sat up. "What kind of man?"

"A _grown_ man," Piplup answered.

Raven then saluted to Piplup and shouted, "Sir yes sir!" Raven then took out her map of Petalburg Woods. "Let's see.." she began and pointed. "We're here, I'm sure. So if we go up here and over here, we should be out of here," she mumbled and put the paper up in her bandana. "Let's go!" she declared and began marching off.

---

"So, your name's Pearl?" the bug-catcher boy asked. "I'm Kazuki!"

"Got it!" Pearl answered in an almost too enthusiastically tone.

"Look!" Kazuki continued and pointed ahead of them. The forest appeared to come to an end and sunshine came through the exit. "You can tell that's where it ends 'cause of the light. That means the forest's trees aren't there anymore."

Pearl sighed in relief. "That's great!" she said. "Thanks for helping!"

Kazuki laughed and shook his head. "Not a problem! You were lost!"

Suddenly, the two heard a boy and girl screaming loudly. "Where's that coming from?" Pearl asked and looked around. Brendan and Megan suddenly came running through some bushes and ran towards them, screaming. Kazuki and Pearl looked at each other and stopped the two.

"P-pearl!" Brendan stuttered and looked up at Pearl, who was looking at him doubtfully. "Uh.." he continued and quickly stood up, pulling twigs and leaves out of his hair. "Hi!"

Megan fell to the ground, breathing heavily. "That was scary!" she whined.

"I know!" Brendan said and fell down as well. "I never knew bug Pokémon were so scary!"

"But they're not!" Kazuki said. "They're really cool, and strong!"

Brendan quickly glared at him and asked, "Who are you?"

"My name's Kazuki!" he stated proudly. "I helped this girl to the exit of the woods!"

"So you got _lost_," Brendan said, grinning evilly at Pearl.

"Do you know her?" Megan asked.

"She's my sister!" Brendan said. "And she got LOST!"

Pearl looked away from Brendan and grumbled something to herself. "Well, you and your buddy looked a little lost when you _ran_ out from the bushes!" she snapped.

Brendan glared at her and stood up. "We weren't lost!" Brendan said and the two began arguing.

Megan watched them as Kazuki helped her up. "Um, Pearl?" Kazuki began. "Didn't you say you had another friend you lost too?"

"Oh yeah.." Pearl said and tapped her chin. "Brat number 2... I'm thinking of naming her brat number 1 and giving Brendan the other name.." she mumbled.

"Excuse me?" Brendan asked and Pearl ignored him.

"Well.." Kazuki began, breaking the rather uncomfortable silence that had begun to grow between Brendan and Pearl. "Maybe your friend has already left the forest.. If not, she might be lost.. And it's around the time that some of the more dangerous bug Pokémon come out…"

No one else said anything. "I guess.." Brendan started. "That Raven's just out of luck. Let's leave!" he finished and ran out of the forest.

"I'm out of luck, huh?"

Brendan stopped and slowly turned around to see Raven standing by the exit, playing with her fingernails.

"Um.. Yeah!" Brendan answered, backing away from her as she looked up from whatever she was doing to her fingernails. "You are really out of luck! REALLY!"

"There's a lake behind you," she said nonchalantly. However, it was a bit too late for Brendan, as he then tripped and fell into a lake.

Pearl, Kazuki, and Megan had also walked out and the four began to watch as Brendan flailed around in the water. Nearby at the edge of the lake were Piplup, Cherrim, and Ralts, who all watched him as well."Stand up, genius!" Treecko shouted from where he and Mudkip were sitting in a tree. Brendan stood up, finding that the water was only up to his knees.

Treecko and Mudkip climbed down from the tree and hurried (or more specifically, Mudkip was the one hurrying.) over to Brendan, who had gotten out of the water and was shaking his head around, apparently trying to get the water out of it.

"You wouldn't be having such a problem getting water out of your hair if you cut it," Raven said.

"My hair doesn't need cutting!" Brendan snapped.

"Rightttt…" Raven said and rolled her eyes.

Brendan then stood up and started walking away from her, crossing a bridge that he had been sitting next to. Two twin girls standing on the bridge tried to stop him and ask for a battle, but he ignored them.

Pearl sighed. "Let's follow him. He's just having himself a silent temper tantrum. He'll get over it."

Megan, Kazuki, and Raven all nodded and the four began crossing the bridge, being followed by their Pokémon as well. Raven stopped by the twin girls and got ready to ask them for a battle only to be pulled away by Pearl.

Soon, they entered a city. Tall buildings were everywhere, along with streetlights and a fountain. Megan curiously walked over to a sign and read it aloud:

"Rustboro City. The city probing the integration of nature and science."

"Wow!" Raven exclaimed. "That makes absolutely no sense!"

Pearl looked around excitedly. "This place is amazing! This must really be what a city looks like!"

Raven elbowed Kazuki in the side and pointed at Pearl. "She's suffering from cultural shock."

"What'd you say?!" Pearl snapped.

"This city is amazing!" Raven said. "Isn't that what I said… um.." She then looked at Kazuki. "…What's your name?"

"Kazuki."

"Isn't that what I said, Kazuki?" she finished, laughing as well.

Megan had begun to run around, looking at all the buildings and, for the oddest reason, was poking people and looking at them in the same way.

"Looks like Megan's suffering from cultural shock as well," Kazuki said. "Anyways… shouldn't we be looking for Brendan?"

"Right!" Pearl said, nodding.

"Well… I think we're going to have a hard time…" Kazuki pointed out. "He could be anywhere!"

Pearl had already begun walking to a Pokémon Center, which was nearby. "Don't worry!" she called. "I bet he's inside of here!"

Kazuki, Megan, and Raven all looked at each other, shrugged, and began following her. Inside, many other trainers all stood around, talking with each other. They began looking curiously around until Pearl simply broke away from the group to talk with a couple of girls nearby.

"So, where do you think Brendan is?" Megan asked. "Pearl apparently isn't going to help so… Raven, do you have any guesses?"

"Nope. My head's empty right now."

Kazuki slapped himself. "Jeez, we're never going to find him!" he said. He then watched curiously as Raven suddenly walked over to a kid wearing a baseball cap. "Hey… what're you doing?"

"This," Raven answered and slapped the hat off of the kid. The kid turned out to be Brendan, who screamed, picked up the hat, and put it back on. "Bren, what are you doing?"

"Don't call me Bren!" he snapped. "I never gave you permission to give me a nickname!"

"I know. I granted myself permission."

Brendan narrowed his eyes at her from underneath the cap. "Just what are you trying to accomplish with your word games?"

"I plan to accomplish world domination. You, foolish human, have fallen straight into my trap," Raven said in a plain voice. "I've already planted my alien pods on your two friends over there." At this she then pointed at Kazuki and Megan. "The two will soon become my loyal servants."

Megan screamed and grabbed onto Kazuki. "She planted alien pods on us! How could we not have noticed?!"

Kazuki sighed. "Hey, so why are you guys coming to Rustboro City anyways?" he asked, obviously trying to change the subject. "Like, did you come to attend the Pokémon Trainer's School or to see the Devon Corporation…?"

"Pokémon Trainer's School? Devon Corporation? What are those places?" Raven asked.

Kazuki looked at her in doubt. "You… you don't know?"

"She just moved to Hoenn, so she doesn't know squat," Brendan said and Raven stuck her tongue out at him.

"Well, the Devon Corporation is a company that makes items for trainers. Things like running shoes and the PokéNav and even new types of Poké Balls," Kazuki explained. "Pokémon Trainer's School doesn't really need an explanation. It's a school that teaches you to become a better trainer."

Raven nodded while he said everything. "I'll go and invade Devon Corporation to complete my world domination. Hey, I rhymed!"

Kazuki sighed yet again. "Is there, like, something wrong with your head?"

"Most likely," Raven answered. "Anyways, is that all that's in Rustboro City? Wasn't there something else…?"

"There's the Rustboro Gym!" Megan said.

"That's it!" Raven shouted. "That's why I came here! For the gym!"

Everyone in the Pokémon Center had turned around to stare at her. Nearby, Pearl had her back to them and was covering her ears so she wouldn't have to hear anything else they said.

"What's everyone looking at me for!?" Raven yelled. "I'll eat you if you keep staring at me like that!"

Everyone turned away and went back to what they were doing. Brendan put a hand on her shoulder and said, "Let's ask Nurse Joy for a room to stay the night. You should train a bit tomorrow before you take on the gym."

"Whatever…" Raven muttered, crossing her arms and pouting.

---

The sun was just beginning to rise and it was slightly cold outside. Raven stood outside of the Pokémon Center with Piplup, Cherrim, and Ralts in front of her. The city's street lights were still on and the city was entirely quiet.

"'Kay guys! Today's the day!" Raven announced loudly.

"Hey, genius, people are still sleeping!" Piplup hissed.

Raven frowned at him but nodded. Ralts looked around nervously and mumbled something. "He asked where we are," Piplup said after listening to him for a moment.

"We, my friends, are in Rustboro City!" Raven answered. "This place is the… uh, location of the first gym! We'll be challenging him today!"

"T-t-today!?" Piplup stammered. "Like, maybe we should train a bit first?!"

Raven made a face. "That's what Brendan said. Well, I guess that since you suggested it… We'll go and train for a bit, okay?"

"Okay!" the three Pokémon all shouted. Someone opened their window and shouted for them to be quiet.

---

"Where do you think she went?" Megan asked. She was walking around Rustboro City with Brendan and Kazuki. The sun was much higher in the sky and people walked around the busy streets.

"I don't know!" Brendan answered and pulled at the neck of his shirt. "All I know is that it's getting really hot outside and I wish I wore something with shorter sleeves!"

Kazuki sighed and looked up at the sky. "I wonder if Pearl's had any luck with finding her?"


	6. Chapter Five

Piplup: Hello all! I'm just here to simply say... Loveon does not own Pokemon! And no matter how hard she tries, she won't own it!

* * *

Chapter Five

"That one has a type advantage over Cherrim! Switch out!"

"Right! Cherrim, come back!" Raven called, taking out a Poké Ball and returning Cherrim to it. "Piplup, go!" she continued and sent Piplup out.

The Pokémon that Piplup was now against was a blue, white-chested bird Pokémon. It lifted up a wing and pecked at it momentarily before flying up into the air.

"Piplup, use Bubble!"

Piplup shot out bubbles at the bird, who skillfully moved out of the way. "Try it again!" Raven called and Piplup nodded, attacking again.

The Pokémon smirked and dived down at Piplup, crashing into his chest. Piplup immediately grabbed a hold of the Pokémon and shot out bubbles at it.

"T-taillow.." it cried as Piplup let go of it.

"Since you were so close to it and held it still, no wonder it took a lot of damage.." Raven mused. "Okay, let's stop for a moment, Piplup!"

Piplup nodded and Raven walked over to the Taillow. "Here you go," she said, crouching down to it and holding out a berry. It looked at her uneasily but ate the berry quickly. "Now, go on and run, Sea Biscuit!" she continued and Taillow flew away.

Picking Piplup up and walking towards to where someone was sitting, she grinned and said, "Thanks for helping me out, Pearl!"

"Not a problem!" Pearl answered, waving her hand. She was sitting on the grass, holding a Poké Dex and apparently instructing Raven. "Maybe next battle you can let your Ralts have a try at battling?"

Raven nodded and took out Ralts' Poké Ball. "Go.. Ralts!" she said and threw the Poké Ball, letting Ralts out.

"Yes..?" it asked, tilting its head.

"Want to battle the next Pokémon?" Raven asked, crouching down towards it.

"Okay.." it said and nodded. "I don't know if I'll be any good, but I'll try!"

Pearl smiled and then stood up as two young twin girls walked up to them. "Excuse us!" they both said. "Would you two please battle us?"

"Well?" Pearl said and looked over at Raven. "Want to give a double battle a shot?"

Raven nodded and the two girls looked at each other and also nodded. "Thank you!" they both said and began backing up, each taking out a Poké Ball.

"Seedot, go!"

"You too, Lotad!"

A small Pokémon that looked like an acorn with legs came out of one Poké Ball while a blue Pokémon with six legs, a yellow mouth, and a lily pad on its back came out of the other.

Pearl looked at the two Pokémon and nodded. "Go, Minun!" she shouted and tossed a Poké Ball in the air, releasing Minun. "Hey, send out Ralts!" Pearl said, glancing at Raven.

Raven nodded and looked at Ralts. "Well, Ralts, let's battle!" she said. Ralts looked uneasily at the two Pokémon the little girls had sent out but nodded and ran over to stand next to Minun.

"Minun, use Helping Hand!" Pearl commanded and Minun nodded, beginning to cheer by pumping her arms in the air and chanting. Pearl then looked over at Raven. "Helping Hand increases the power of a partner Pokémon during a double battle. Get Ralts to use an attack move and it'll be stronger than usual."

Raven nodded. "Okay, Ralts! …Um, let's use Confusion?"

Ralts nodded back at her. His eyes began glowing a blue color as he pointed at Seedot and raised his arms into the air.

---

"Do you really think she's on this route?" Kazuki asked. He, Brendan, and Megan had headed north east of Rustboro City, bringing them to Route 116. At least, from what he knew, it was Route 116.

"Of course she is!" Brendan said and waved his hand. "Just take a look! Plenty of trainers around… She's probably just battling them all!"

Kazuki narrowed his eyes at him. "Are you so sure she even listened when you told her to train?"

"Good point…" Brendan mumbled and began muttering to himself.

"HEY BRENDAN!"

Brendan looked up. He looked over at Megan and Kazuki, who both shrugged. "That's not Raven's voice…" he said. "Her voice is lazy sounding, like she doesn't care about anything…"

"Brendan! Over here!" the voice shouted. Brendan turned in the direction of the voice to see an orange dressed trainer waving at him energetically. "It's me! Nami! Remember?!"

"How could I forget…?" he mumbled as Nami began running over to them. "Uh, hi, Nami!"

"Hi!" she said loudly. "So, you guys headed to Rustboro too? For the gym, am I right? I came here for the gym! I challenged the leader, too!"

"Really?" Brendan asked and looked down at the Torchic that had followed her. "Did you win?"

His eyes widened as Torchic turned around and began slamming its head on the ground. "H-hey! What's wrong with your Torchic?!"

"She's upset!" Nami said and bent down to stop her from hurting herself. "We lost the battle, unfortunately. Even worse is that some of the bratty little gym trainers in there began teasing us after we lost! I swear, I want to grab one of them, any of them, and tear all of his hair out until he cries like a little girl!"

"That's… lovely and descriptive…" Brendan said. "Um… anyways… these two with me are Kazuki and Megan. Right now, we're looking for Raven, because when we woke up this morning… she kind of wasn't in bed anymore."

Nami began laughing loudly at this, causing Brendan to glare at her. "And… what's so funny?" he grumbled.

"You are so funny!" she said and slapped his back, still laughing. "I mean, the way you put that… she kind of wasn't in bed? That's HILARIOUS!"

Brendan continued glaring at her. "Enough. It's not that funny..." Brendan muttered.

Nami stopped laughing and looked away. "Gee, you mustn't be in a good mood. Can't even get you to laugh with me..."

"Maybe because the only reason you're laughing is because you're a psychotic-" Brendan began to say only to be pushed to the ground by Nami. She had grabbed Megan and Kazuki and pulled them down as well.

"Do you guys feel that?" she asked quietly.

"Feel what?" Kazuki asked back.

She narrowed her eyes and looked behind herself. "A disturbance... in the force."

Brendan groaned loudly and smacked himself.

---

"Lotad, Water Gun!"

"Minun, Spark!"

Lotad began to open its mouth in order to spray water only to be tackled by an electricity covered Minun. Lotad rolled backwards a few times before finally stopping, apparently unconscious.

"Oh no, Lotad!" one of the girls cried and ran over to it. She took out her Poké Ball and returned it, then looking over at her sister. "Okay, sis! Win this battle for us!"

The other twin nodded. "You can bet I will! Seedot! Use Take Down on Minun!"

Seedot began running at Minun, who had her back to it. Ralts quickly stepped in, using Confusion yet again and throwing Seedot aside.

"Hey, thanks!" Minun said to Ralts, who simply nodded.

The girl with the Seedot frowned. "Fine! I guess I'll just make this battle a tie! Seedot, Explosion!"

Seedot closed its eyes and began turning white.

"Minun! Ralts!" Pearl shouted. "Get away from Seedot, fast!"

Ralts suddenly disappeared and reappeared next to Minun. He then grabbed Minun and began to disappear again when the entire area exploded. Dirt and grass fell to the ground from it along with smoke covering the area.

"For a tiny acorn thing, it makes a big explosion..." Raven muttered, covering her mouth and waving the smoke away.

"Since when does Seedot know how to explode?!" Pearl asked and took off her jacket, waving away the smoke with that.

When the smoke disappeared, Seedot was unconscious and Ralts and Minun were nowhere in sight.

"Seedot, return!" the girl shouted and returned the Seedot to its Poké Ball. "Hey, where are the Ralts and Minun?"

Just as she asked this, the two appeared in the air and began falling to the ground. Pearl and Raven both ran out and caught the two, both seemingly okay after the explosion.

"Aw no! We lost!" the other twin, the one with the Lotad, said and sighed. "Mia, why'd you use Explosion?!"

Mia also sighed. "I thought it'd end the battle as a tie, that's why! I'm sorry Gina!"

Pearl grabbed Raven and dragged her over so that they were in front of the twins. "Hey you two, that was an awesome battle!" Pearl said. "I was surprised that Seedot could learn Explosion. I didn't think they knew how..."

"Well, our dad was able to teach them some moves that normal Seedot and Lotad don't learn by leveling up!" Mia explained. "But... how'd Ralts and Minun avoid Explosion?"

"It was all Ralts's doing!" Minun said, waving her arm around and pointing at Ralts. "He was teleporting us everywhere!"

"You can teleport?" Raven asked and held Ralts in front of herself, looking at him curiously.

"Well... I can use psychic powers, you know..." he muttered and looked away.

Piplup and Cherrim came out from behind a tree and ran towards them. Piplup immediately pecked Raven's leg and looked up at her. "What was that?! Like, are you trying to kill us?!"

"Well, killing you would mean less of a bother for me," Raven answered and Piplup screamed.

The twins looked at each other before holding out their hands to Raven and Pearl. "Thank you for battling us!"

Pearl elbowed Raven in the side, who quickly went to shake one of the girls' hands. Pearl shook the other girl's hand and said, "Not a problem! Thank you too, because my friend here has never battled in a double battle!"

The two both looked at Raven awe. "Seriously? You never have?"

"Truth be told, I think that was the first battle I ever had with a trainer," Raven said and began scratching her head. "Gee, I'm getting hungry... Pearl, let's go eat and then challenge the Gym Leader, okay?"

Pearl nodded and looked back at Gina and Mia. "Hey, maybe we'll be able to battle you two again sometime, okay?"

The two nodded. "Okay!"

---

"So, this is what you call 'a disturbance in the force'?" Brendan asked.

"Uh.." Nami began. "W-well... he's... um..."

The four were hiding in a bush, looking out at the entrance to a cave. In front of the cave stood an old man, who was pounding on his chest and roaring unintelligible words.

"He's... causing a disturbance in the peace!" Nami said.

Brendan sighed. "Well, let's just go back to Rustboro and-"

"No way!" Nami interrupted. "We're going in the cave!"

"Past that madman?! I don't think so!" Brendan snapped.

All this time, Kazuki and Megan had simply continued watching the old man pound on his chest. "Well, I'm sure we could pass him without being noticed," Kazuki said. "He looks pretty absorbed with his roaring."

Brendan looked at Kazuki and then at the man. "...Well, I guess... I mean, he's an old guy, so what can he-"

Nami had already begun crawling across the ground towards the cave. The old man was completely oblivious to her, earning her a laugh from Brendan. Megan and Kazuki began to walk after Nami quickly. The old man also didn't notice them.

"Come on Brendan!" Nami called.

Brendan sighed as he began walking towards the cave. However, as he passed the old man, the man stopped and grabbed Brendan by his shoulders.

"PLEASE! RESCUE MY DEAR PEEKO!"

"W-what?!" Brendan stammered and the man began shaking him around.

"Some goon came and took off with my dear Peeko!" the man shouted. "ROOARRR! PEEKO!"

Brendan quickly shot a look at Nami. "See?! I told you he was a madman!"

* * *

Piplup: Next chapter will be Raven's very first gym battle! Stay tuned and let's hope she doesn't screw it up!

Nami: Let's hope I don't spot any more disturbances in the force!


	7. Chapter Six: VS Roxanne!

Piplup: My god, do you know how long she took to write this chapter?

Cherrim: A long time?

Piplup: No, that's the surprising thing! She wrote this chapter in one day!

Cherrim: It marks our first gym battle!

Piplup: Yeah yeah... Well, Loveon doesn't own Pokémon, no matter how hard she tries.

Cherrim: She also apologizes if the battle seems cheesy.

* * *

Chapter Six

On the way to Rustboro Gym, Raven made a big discovery: That the gym doors do not open automatically and that one must push the doors open themselves.

"Are you okay?" Pearl asked, watching as Raven laid on the ground with her hands over her forehead.

"I'm fine..." she grumbled and rolled over on her side. "I did that on purpose, you know."

Pearl pulled Raven up and pushed open the gym doors. "Sure you did. Now come on and get inside."

While the outside of Rustboro Gym had been rather plain, being gray with a brown roof, the inside was completely different. The floor was stone, with rocks jutting out of the ground. The left and right sides of the gym had seats rising up to the top.

"...These aren't seats... They're desks!" Pearl exclaimed.

"Hey, you!" a boy in blue shorts shouted and pointed at Raven. "Are you the idiot who just ran into the doors outside?"

"Say that again so I can punch you," Raven said.

"Are you the idiot who just ran into the doors outside?"

"LET ME KILL HIM!" Raven shouted, being held back by Pearl, who simply put an arm around her neck.

"I apologize..." a girl's voice said. "Joshua, I told you to stop that."

The boy sniffed and looked in the opposite direction. "Whatever."

The girl, who had dark hair and wore a blue dress, looked back at Raven and Pearl. "So are you both here for a gym challenge?"

Pearl shook her head and pointed at Raven. "Not me. She's here for the challenge."

"Well, I'm Roxanne," she said. "And I'm the Gym Leader, if you haven't already guessed."

"She's the leader?!" Raven shouted and pointed at Roxanne. "I've been calling you a guy all this time!"

"Nice to know," Roxanne said and began heading towards the entrance (which also served as the exit). "Now, if you'll excuse me for a moment..."

Raven quickly grabbed her arm. "Hey wait! Where're you going?!"

Roxanne looked back at her. "Well, I'm go to the Pokémon Trainer's School to have the students come to the gym. You see, every time I get a gym challenge, I have the students come here to watch the battle. You know... Watching and learning."

~---~

Soon, all the desks in the gym were filled with students from the school. Pearl had also taken a seat in the front row of the desks and waited for the battle to start.

Roxanne had taken a place across the room and had to tell Raven to stand at the opposite side. Once the two both stood at their respective spots, a boy, the one named Joshua, ran to the edge of the battle field and raised his arms.

"Okay! Challenger!" he began and looked at Raven. "State your name!"

"Raven."

"Okay! Each Trainer shall only use three Pokémon! Whoever ends up with two out of three wins is the winner! In the case of a tie, Leader Roxanne is the winner!" he shouted. "Okay... Let this official gym battle between Gym Leader Roxanne and Trainer Raven... BEGIN!"

Roxanne quickly threw a Poké Ball in the air. "Go, Geodude!"

Raven almost laughed. Geodude looked like a rock with arms, eyes, and a mouth. She shook her head. "I have to be serious about this..." she grumbled and started mumbling things.

Pearl was squirming around impatiently in her seat, wanting to shout out a Pokémon that Raven should use against Geodude. That would, however, be cheating.

"Challenger!" Joshua shouted. "Your Pokémon is...?"

"Cherrim!" she shouted and threw Cherrim's Poké Ball.

Cherrim spun around a few times as he came out. "Okay! I'm ready! Super ready!"

Roxanne had a surprised expression on her face. "Are you sure this is your first gym challenge...?" she asked. "I mean, if you have a Cherrim, you'd probably be at an even match to challenge Wattson..."

"What?" Raven asked. "What're you talking about?"

"Cherubi, the pre-evolved form of Cherrim, doesn't evolve until level 25."

Raven looked down at Cherrim. "...You had a pre-evolved form? What's that?"

The students all began giggling at this. Pearl slapped herself in the face, sighing as Raven began looking at everyone in confusion.

Roxanne shook her head. "Forget about it... Geodude, use Rock Throw!"

Geodude began throwing rocks at Cherrim, making him scream and hurry around to move out of their way.

"Cherrim, use.. Tackle!" Raven shouted.

"STUPID!" Pearl shouted and quickly covered her mouth as everyone began looking at her.

Cherrim ran at Geodude and tackled into it, only to fall back to the ground and apparently not harming Geodude.

"You really don't know anything, do you?" Roxanne asked. "Physical moves like Tackle are pretty much useless against Rock type Pokémon."

"Is that so...?" Raven mumbled. "Well then... Cherrim! Use whatever move you want!"

"What kind of Trainer are you?!" Roxanne snapped. She, however, gasped as Cherrim began shooting strangely colored leaves at Geodude.

Geodude quickly shook off the attack. "Geodude!" Roxanne called. "Use Rollout!"

Geodude curled up into a ball and began rolling towards Cherrim. "Cherrim!" Raven shouted. Cherrim nodded and jumped over Geodude. To both his and Raven's surprise, Geodude turned around and slammed into Cherrim from behind.

Roxanne smirked. "Apparently you don't know about Rollout either, do you?"

Raven stuck her tongue out at Roxanne. "Whatever! Cherrim, Petal Dance!"

Cherrim began to spin around quickly and petals began shooting out all over the gym. Cherrim was apparently not taking aim, as some of the petals nearly struck some of the students.

Eventually several petals struck Geodude, who was trying to move out of the way of the other flying petals. It crashed into one of the rocks of the field and landed on the ground.

"Geodude, throw that rock!" Roxanne shouted. Geodude was somehow able to pick the rock it crashed into and threw it at Cherrim.

Cherrim then stopped spinning and tripped around dizzily. The rock landed on Cherrim, who hadn't noticed a thing at all.

"Ah! Cherrim!" Raven shouted. "Uh... get out from under that rock!"

Roxanne smirked again. "Geodude! Mega Punch on the rock!"

Geodude pulled its arm back and punched the rock, breaking threw it and hitting Cherrim.

Cherrim slowly stood up, he and Geodude not even a foot apart from each other.

"Geodude! Mega Punch again!" Roxanne said.

"Cherrim! Solar Beam!" Raven shouted.

Much to the surprise of everyone, except Raven, Cherrim shot out a beam of light without even having to wait. Geodude crashed into the gym's wall and fell to the ground, motionless.

Everyone else was then silent. Except for Raven again, who had begun clapping happily. Cherrim was waving his arms around as well, although he was clearly very hurt and exhausted.

"Geodude is unable to battle!" Joshua shouted. "Leader Roxanne, please send out your next Pokémon!"

Roxanne grimaced and returned Geodude to its Poké Ball before turning to look at Raven and Cherrim. "How did that Cherrim... Never mind..." she grumbled and threw another Poké Ball. "Nosepass! Let's go!"

"Woah!" Cherrim cried and pointed at Nosepass, who had a large nose. "What a nose!"

"Nosepass," Roxanne said and waved her arm. Nosepass then hit a nearby rock, making it break. It then began throwing the large broken pieces at Cherrim.

"Move, Cherrim!" Raven shouted.

Cherrim looked behind himself. "...What?"

In a matter of seconds, Cherrim was covered with rocks to the point where no one could see him. Raven quickly ran over to the pile of rocks and started moving them aside until she finally found Cherrim.

"Cherrim is unable to battle!" Joshua called. "Trainer Raven, please choose your next Pokémon!"

Raven sat back on the ground, holding Cherrim in her arms. "I'm sorry Cherrim..." she mumbled.

"I'm fine!" Cherrim said and waved his arm around. "It only hurts a little bit... Come on, have someone else try to beat Nosepass!"

She nodded and returned Cherrim to his Poké Ball and stood up.

Pearl watched sadly as Raven stood there. Some of the students sitting her were talking about how Cherrim pulled off Solar Beam. And on how Raven seemed clueless about things that one would probably know.

__

Her best bet's to send out Piplup next...

Pearl thought.

_Unless she doesn't realize that Piplup also has a type advantage over Rock types._

"Go Ralts!"

Pearl smacked herself. "That idiot..." she muttered.

As soon as Ralts saw the opponent he was facing, he started screaming and turned back towards Raven. "NOOO! DON'T MAKE ME BE NEAR THIS GUY! HE'S SCARY!"

"Come on Ralts! Win this gym battle for us!" Raven said and began cheering.

Ralts gulped and looked back at Nosepass. "But... his nose... It's huge!"

Nosepass suddenly came up behind Ralts and attacked him. Ralts quickly teleported out of the way and appeared behind Raven.

"Sensei, I'm going to hide behind you!" Ralts said. "You attack and I'll be support!"

"That's not how it works," Raven said and pushed Ralts out in front of her. "Come on now!"

Ralts sighed and teleported again, this time behind Nosepass. He then braced himself, awaiting some kind of attack from it. Nothing happened.

"Confusion!" Raven shouted. Ralts quickly used the move, pushing Nosepass forward a little bit.

"Okay... this is _not_ working very well..." she mumbled and held out Ralts' Poké Ball. "Return, Ralts! And... Piplup, go!"

Roxanne mumbled under her breath as Raven switched Pokémon to Piplup. Whoever's Pokémon was the next to faint would lose the battle.

"Piplup! Bubblebeam!" Raven shouted.

"You mean Bubble," Piplup corrected.

"Close enough. Just use that attack!"

Piplup took in a deep breath and shot the bubbles out at Nosepass, who still stood in the place, not moving.

"Rock Slide!" Roxanne shouted.

Nosepass finally moved, causing an avalanche of rocks to fly at Piplup. Piplup quickly began running around, trying to dodge the rocks as best as he could. Piplup then gasped as he bumped into something behind him and looked up to see that Nosepass had somehow gotten there.

"Rock Tomb!"

Nosepass stomped on the ground and made four rocks come out of the ground. The stones came up around Piplup and captured Piplup in a space so small that he couldn't move.

Roxanne pushed back a piece of her hair. "Nosepass, keep attacking Piplup until it faints!"

"Piplup! Do something!" Raven shouted as Nosepass began attacking Piplup.

"Here's an idea!" Piplup shouted back. "How about _you_ do something?!"

Raven suddenly began making hand signals, which pretty much involved her waving her arms, jumping, and making noises. Piplup apparently understood what she meant and simply continued taking the attacks.

"What's that girl doing?" some of the students mumbled to each other. Pearl sat with her arms crossed as she watched the battle.

"Yeah. What are you doing, Raven?" Pearl muttered.

Soon Nosepass stopped attacking Piplup and backed away. Roxanne laughed to herself. There's no way Piplup could possibly still be able to fight...

"Piplup!" Raven shouted. "Now!"

The ground started shaking as the rocks surrounding Piplup all broke. Piplup jumped out of the space and began diving towards Nosepass.

"Take this, you big nosed rock!" Piplup shouted. "Bide!"

"No-!" Roxanne gasped as Piplup crashed into Nosepass. The two Pokémon both fell to the ground then.

Everyone was silent. Joshua looked at the two Pokémon unsurely. "Um... it looks like both Pokémon are unable to fight so..."

"Who said I was unable to fight?!" Piplup snapped and stood up. "I'd gladly demonstrate on you that I can still fight!"

"Uh..." Joshua began and held his hand towards where Raven was. "Trainer Raven has defeated Leader Roxanne's Pokémon! Therefore, the winner of this gym challenge is.. Raven!"

All the students began clapping and cheering. Raven ran over to Piplup and picked him up. "Good job!" she said and hugged him tightly.

"Let me go!" Piplup grumbled.

Pearl had stood up and was clapping along with everyone else. "Way to go Raven!" she shouted.

Roxanne returned Nosepass to its Poké Ball and walked over to Raven, holding out a badge.

"Wow!" Raven said excitedly and reached for the badge. "Our first gym badge...!"

Roxanne then quickly moved her hand out of the way, holding it above her head. "H-hey!" Raven began and reached out for Roxanne's hand. "Give me the badge! Come on!"

"Nope," Roxanne said and put her hand behind her back. "There's no way you're getting this badge."

"Why not?!" Raven snapped.

"Because," Roxanne said. "I was very disappointed by your battling. You asked questions and seemed clueless. A good, or for that matter, any trainer would know things like Pokémon evolution and even that physical moves don't do much good any Rock types. Haven't you ever tried to kick a rock?"

"Uh..." Raven began and laughed. "Well, of course I've tried to kick a rock before..."

"And there was something else that really bothered me," Roxanne continued. "You told your Cherrim to use whatever move it wanted. That would be a good option if it was fighting to defend itself but in the case of a Trainer battle, Trainers are supposed to work together with their Pokémon by telling them on moves they should use."

"Well, what's that got to do with anything?" Raven asked. "It's just my style of battling! And besides, I won, fair and square!"

Roxanne glared at her. "Well, your 'style' definitely needs some work. You don't deserve this badge. Now, get out of here and do something smart like, say, going to get your Pokémon healed."


	8. Chapter Seven

Brendan: Loveon completely forgot to submit this chapter on FF...

Pearl: How the heck'd she forget...? Nevermind. Doesn't own Pokemon.

* * *

Chapter Seven

All while Raven's gym battle had been happening, Brendan, Nami, Megan, and Kazuki had entered the cave and agreed to help the man find his 'Peeko'. The cave apparently had a dead end, as two people in black and white stripped shirts stood there; a woman holding a package and a man having a white bird sitting on his head.

"Hey, look!" Nami said and pointed at the people. "Cavemen!"

"You stupid twerp!" the woman shouted. "We aren't cavemen! We're Team Aqua and we're a ton better than that lousy Team Magma! So, like, you four should become members!"

"Does it pay?" Brendan asked.

"Yep!"

Just then Nami put a hand over his mouth and dragged him back a bit. "Those people are the fishy looking ones that Raven and I saw outside Petalburg City!"

"You mean the pirate people?"

"Yeah! The pirate people!"

Brendan shook Nami off of him and walked towards the two 'Team Aqua' people. "Now now, I don't think any of us are quite interested in joining Team Aqua-"

"Is that so? Then screw you!"

"...But I believe we can settle this without any arguments. You see, that bird on your head? I do believe it belongs to someone else so if you-"

"I said screw you."

"...You would kindly pass it on to us, we could return it to its rightful owner."

"Here's something else kid! Go jump off a bridge!"

Brendan turned back towards Nami, Megan, and Kazuki. "This isn't working out so well," he said.

"No, really?" Nami asked and walked over to stand next to him. "Move aside and let me take care of this!"

The two people rolled their eyes and turned their backs on them, trying to figure out some way to get past the boulders that blocked the tunnel.

"Hey..." the woman began. "Do you smell something burning?"

"Yeah, smells pretty good actually," the man replied. "Aw man, now I'm getting hungry..."

"Hey! We're on fire!" the other shouted. The two then began jumping around, trying to put out the flames that had caught onto their pants.

Nami simply stood there proudly with her Torchic standing next to her, having the same expression as her Trainer.

"You brats!" the woman shouted. "You'll pay for that! We may be grunts, but you shouldn't underestimate our battling skills because of that!"

At this, the two then sent out their own Pokémon; a gray dog-like Pokémon and a dark blue Pokémon with a spiral on its stomach.

"Poochyena, use Bite!"

"And Poliwhirl, Water Gun!"

Poochyena, the dog Pokémon, quickly ran at Torchic and bit her. The other Pokémon, Poliwhirl, took in a deep breath before shooting water out at Torchic from the middle of the spiral on its stomach.

Brendan quickly sent out Treecko, who acted on his own and ran to protect Torchic. Striking Poochyena with his tail and making it let go, he then stood in front of Torchic and allowed the water to spray him.

"You little brats! Just mind your own business!" the woman shouted. "Poochyena! Do something now!"

Poochyena tackled Treecko out of the way while Poliwhirl ran up and punched him. The two Pokémon then turned over to Torchic and attacked her as well.

Brendan looked over his shoulder. "Hey! Uh… Kazuki! Send out one of your Pokémon!"

Kazuki shrugged. "Well, I think all of my Wurmple are asleep right now. I don't want to wake them up."

Brendan smacked his shoulder and looked back to the battle, where Poliwhirl had now picked up Treecko and threw him at Brendan.

Brendan caught Treecko easily only to have another problem following quickly; Poliwhirl was now getting ready to attack him.

"Uproar!"

All of a sudden, a loud noise began emitting. Everyone, Pokémon included, began covering their ears. The noise was even strong enough to cause some of the walls to begin breaking. When the noise finally ended, Poochyena, Poliwhirl, Torchic, and Treecko were all unconscious.

"What was that?!" Brendan shouted, uncovering his ears and speaking rather loudly.

"Sorry!" Megan laughed and pointed at a light blue Pokémon hovering above her. It had a yellow bell shape on top of its head and a flowing tail with a red stripe across it. It was waving its two stubby arms around with an overjoyed look on its face.

"I think I'm deaf!" the woman whined, still covering her ears.

"What?" the man asked loudly.

"I said I think I'm deaf!"

"What? I can't hear you!"

Brendan sighed as he returned Treecko to his Poké Ball. "Well, at least that took care of these guys. Megan, is that your Pokémon?"

Megan nodded. "Yep! This is Chimecho! She's my first Pokémon!"

"Well, she must be really strong then!" Nami said, covering one ear with her hand and using the other to return Torchic to her Poké Ball. "I mean, it knocked all the Pokémon out!"

"Yeah, it did," Brendan said and narrowed his eyes. "The point is the attack the enemy, not your allies as well."

"Sorry…" Megan mumbled. "Uproar attacks everyone… I didn't know what else to use…"

Meanwhile, the woman had angrily marched over to Brendan, dragging the man along with her. She picked up the bird on the man's head, who seemed unfazed by Uproar, and placed it on Brendan's head.

"Just have the stupid Pokémon! It's no good to use and just repeatedly keeps saying 'Wingull, Wingull, Wingull!'" she snapped and ran out of the cave.

After they were gone, Brendan looked up at the Pokémon. "So, are you Peeko?"

"Wingull!"

"I'll take that as a yes," Brendan said and began heading to the cave's exit. "Well, now there's nothing else to do and I need to go get Treecko healed at the Pokémon Center. Let's go guys!"

The other three all looked at each other momentarily before following after Brendan.

Outside, the man quickly hugged Brendan tightly as he came out. "Oh, you saved my dear Peeko! Thank you so much!"

"Uh, not a problem!" Brendan stammered, trying to breath. "Could you… let go of me please?"

The man let go of him and took Peeko off his head. "Peeko owes her life to you! Those goons just came and took her into that cave! Why, I don't know what I would've… hm? Is something the matter?"

The four of them were all looking up at the man. Despite clearly being old, he was tall and actually had noticeable muscles.

"You're really tall!" Nami said bluntly.

The man laughed loudly. "That's been one of my traits since I was a sailor! The tallest one on deck! Ha ha ha!"

"…Anyways, we really should get going…" Brendan mumbled and began slinking away.

"But wait! I must know Peeko's saviors' names!"

Brendan made a face. "I'm Brendan. The girl with the bandana is-"

"I'm Nami!" Nami interrupted, pointing at herself. "These two are Megan and Kazuki!"

"Well, my name's Briney!" the man said. "If there's anything I can do for you kids, you just come and let me know! I live by the ocean on the outskirts of Petalburg City."

The four nodded and Briney began to walk away, making noises that one would make to a baby to Peeko.

"Okay!" Brendan said and looked back at the other three. "That was weird!"


	9. Chapter Eight

A/N: I've rewritten this chapter due to it being ridiculous! It makes more sense now...

* * *

Chapter Eight

"Please, give that package back!" a man in a green suit begged and stood in the way of the two Team Aqua members that had just fled from Rustboro Tunnel.

"Such a pain!" the woman grumbled. "If you don't get out of our way, we'll use force to pass by!"

"…We could just walk around him," the man said. "The street's wide enough…"

The green suited man clumsily dove for the brown package that the woman held. The woman moved out of the way, causing the man to fall on the ground pathetically.

"Oh, look who it is."

The two both looked behind themselves to see the very same Trainers that had bothered them in Rustboro Tunnel; Brendan, Nami, Kazuki, and Megan.

"What do you want!?" the woman snapped. "What, blasting our ear drums wasn't enough entertainment for you?!"

Brendan shook his head and pointed at the man, who still hadn't gotten up from the ground. "Sounds like you have something that belongs to this guy. How about giving it back?" he asked.

"Screw you."

"This lady needs to clean up her mouth!" Brendan said to Nami, who nodded in agreement.

The woman and man both nodded at each other before hurrying past the man and running through the streets.

"I love tag!" Nami shouted and ran after them.

Brendan helped the man stand up and watched Nami chase the two thieves. "…I guess we should play tag too, right?"

The man sighed. "Uh, sure… But I really need to get that package back…"

---

Raven continued muttering to herself as she and Pearl left the Rustboro Gym. The students there all began heading back to the Trainer's School, talking about the battle.

"…It's not fair!" Raven whined and grabbed onto Pearl, crying. If she was really crying, it sounded extremely fake.

"It's fine!" Pearl said and patted her back. "You can always try again… Well, the real reason she didn't give you the badge was because of the way you were battling…"

Raven mumbled something else and looked up suddenly. Two somewhat-familiar looking people were running in their direction. Pearl quickly moved out of the way of them while Raven simply stood there.

And therefore, the two people ran right into Raven, all of them falling on the ground.

Nami climbed up a light pole to get a bird's eye view of Rustboro. She quickly spotted the two Aqua members and started climbing down the pole, only to stop for a quick moment.

"…That's weird, I thought I saw Raven with them… Whatever!"

Pearl smacked herself as people began asking the three if they were okay. The two people ran into Raven began shouting things at each other before beginning to shout at Raven.

"Hey, what's this…?" Pearl asked and picked up a brown package that the people had dropped when they crashed into Raven.

"Er… that's ours!" the man said and quickly hurried over to Pearl. "If you don't mind, could we have it back?"

"Sure…" Pearl said and held it out to him, only to have it knocked out her hand by… a shoe.

"Don't give it to him!" Nami shouted, hanging onto another light pole. "He's a thieve! That means he's a bad guy! So don't give it to him!"

Pearl raised her eyebrow and looked at the man. "So, you're a thieve?"

"Yeah, we're apart of Team Aqua! You want to join?"

The woman who was with the man quickly punched the back of his head. "You idiot! Now the boss is gonna kill us both!"

"Do we abort the mission?"

"We do."

At this, the two both threw something at the ground causing smoke to surround them. When it disappeared, they were gone.

"I thought they only had smoke stuff like that in movies…" Raven said.

Meanwhile, Nami had hopped from where she had been to where her shoe had landed and put it back on. She then picked up the package and looked around.

"Where'd those thieves go?!"

Pearl sighed. "They pulled a magic act and disappeared," she said.

Nami grumbled to herself. "Well… whatever! I have to go give this package back to the wimpy man in green!"

She then spun around and pulled Raven up. "Come along with me! Okay?"

"Sure…" Raven muttered and Nami began pulling her away somewhere by her hand.

Pearl began hurrying after them. "Hey! What about me?!"

---

"Thank you so much!" the man said, laughing as Nami handed him the package. "If I wasn't able to get this back… let's just say I'd be in trouble!"

Nami was nodding the whole time he spoke. "Of course! We always help the helpless!"

"Who's we?" Brendan asked, crossing his arms and looking at her plainly.

"Excuse me…" the man interrupted. "Please, if you don't mind, will all of you come with me to the Devon Coperation? I work there, and I do believe that the president would like to have a word with the children who got back this important package!"

"Hey, these two-" Brendan began and pointed at Pearl and Raven. "They didn't do anything to help, so why should they come along?"

However, the man was already hurrying off towards a tall building, with everyone except Brendan following him.

Brendan sighed. "No one listens to me!"

---

Pearl sat down in one of the seats in the lobby of Devon Coperation. The man who apparently worked there had gone off somewhere in the building to talk with the president.

"Someone has OCD for rocks!"

Pearl smacked herself as she heard Raven say this. She then looked over to where Raven was standing in front of a glass container. Nami was standing next to her, nodding approvingly.

"Excuse me!" the man said and was suddenly in the lobby, making just about everyone there (including a woman who was working at the front desk) jump in surprise. "The president is ready to see you now!"

"What, did he have to comb his hair and put makeup on first?" Raven asked. But the man was already heading off somewhere. "HEY! WAIT UP!"

Raven, Brendan, Pearl, Nami, Kazuki, and Megan were now hurrying after the man, who was walking extremely fast.

"But he couldn't walk this fast when someone stole something important, right?" Raven hissed.

"Quit it with your remarks!" Pearl snapped.

Eventually, they found the man, who was waiting patiently in front of a room. When they finally got over to him, he opened up the door to the room.

"Please, go on in."

"You-!" Raven began only to be pulled into the room by Pearl.

Once they were all in (and once they had gotten Raven to stop talking), the man shut the door and led them to where the president sat behind a desk.

The president was an old man in a blue suit. He sat there grinning at them all in an almost disturbing way. "So you children are the ones who stopped the thievery of the very important package? Well, I thank you all greatly for this. I'm the president of Devon Corporation. Please call me… Mr. Stone."

"Wow!" Kazuki shouted and ran over to the president's desk. "It's such a honor to meet you sir! I've always loved all the inventions your company makes! My name's Kazuki, sir!"

Mr. Stone stood up and held out his hand to Kazuki, which he grabbed and shook quickly. "Pleasure to meet you."

Everyone else introduced themselves and pulled Kazuki away from Mr. Stone due to him being it a trance-like state and not noticing anything around him. Therefore, they sat him down in a chair in the room.

"Now, this important package that you children saved…" Mr. Stone began and sat back down in his seat. "It needs to be brought to the shipyard in Slateport. If you don't mind, you wouldn't mind delivering it there, would you?"

"No sir, we don't mind!" Pearl said and shook her head.

Mr. Stone nodded. "I appreciate it! Now, I also have another favor to ask you… Well, on the way to Slateport there's an island called Dewford. You see, a man named Steven is going to be spending about a week there to search around for stones. Could you deliver a letter to him?"

Pearl nodded again. "Sure thing sir!"

"Thank you," Mr. Stone replied. "Now, I'm not just going to ask you kids to do favors for me without you getting something in return! Therefore, I'm going to give each of you a PokéNav!"

"Wow, really?!" everyone except for Raven exclaimed. Mr. Stone nodded and opened up a drawer, setting out several round yellow devices on his desk.

"Actually, sir…" Pearl began. "We don't each need one! We're traveling in a group, you see, so…"

"All of you traveling together?" Mr. Stone asked. "Well, that's certainly a lot of people!"

Brendan interrupted at this point. "Actually, the orange girl here isn't traveling with us."

"Uh, neither am I!" Megan said. "But… um, I am traveling with Kazuki… he's the boy in the chair."

Mr. Stone nodded, smiling. "Okay!… So, three groups, three PokéNavs!"

Nami and Brendan had begun to glare at each other as they got a PokéNav. Mr. Stone was babbling on about the features of the PokéNav and only Pearl and Megan were listening to him.

"Well, thank you children so much!" Mr. Stone said, wrapping up his explanation. "I really do appreciate what you're doing!

Pearl nodded, pushing everyone else out of the room. "It's not a problem! Thank you for the PokéNavs, President Stone!"

---

Back at the Pokémon Center, Pearl and Megan were checking out things on the PokéNav. Nami and Brendan were fighting over something, Raven was sitting in a corner in a depressed state due to her loss at the Gym, and no one really knew where Kazuki was.

"Excuse me, are you Raven?"

Raven looked up from where she was in the corner to see Nurse Joy standing there. "I guess I am. What is it?"

"You have a phone call. Someone from Sinnoh, I think."

Raven suddenly jumped up and hurried over to a video phone that Nurse Joy showed her too. She picked up the phone and merely a bizarre purring noise as she saw who was on the phone.

"Hey Raven! We didn't think we'd be able to contact you since we're all traveling, but we did!"

"Dawn, Jun, Lucas!" Raven said happily and began hugging the video phone. "I love you guys!~"

"Who's Raven talking to?" Pearl asked, looking over to where Raven was hugging the phone.

"I don't know…" Megan answered.

"Look, Raven!" Dawn, a blue haired girl wearing a white ski cap, said and held up a Piplup to the screen. "I have my own Piplup now! Piplup, this is Raven!"

The Piplup nodded. "Nice to meet you."

Jun, a blonde haired boy with a green scarf, pushed Dawn out of the way. "I have a Chimchar, but I don't know where he is right now!"

And then Lucas, a blue haired boy wearing a red hat, was in front of the screen. "I got a Turtwig. He's in our room right now, eating."

Raven was still hugging the screen happily. Brendan and Nami had finally stopped arguing and were now watching Raven as she was on the phone. Brendan noticed that she seemed extremely happy, something that creeped him out since he's never seen her happy before.

He then began to leave the Pokémon Center, getting an idea. "Brendan! Where're you going?!" Nami snapped.

"Uh, make sure Raven doesn't get off that phone!" he answered.

Nami tilted her head. "Okay…"

---

Brendan came back to the Center, holding another PokéNav in his hands. He had hurried over to Devon Corporation and told the president about Raven's friends, who lived in Sinnoh. Mr. Stone seemed excited by this and let him have another one, as he'd like other people in different regions to know about Devon Corporation.

"…What are you doing?" Brendan asked. Nami was trying to give Raven a kiss, the latter protesting strongly against this. He was relieved to find Raven's friends still on the phone, watching the scene in confusion. Nami pushed Raven out of the seat and was still trying to kiss her.

"I'm not going to ask," Brendan continued and sat in the seat. "Hello," he said and waved to the three kids on the other screen.

"Um.. Hi."

"I'm Brendan. I'm traveling around with Raven."

"Are you her friend then?" Lucas asked excitedly.

Brendan made a face. "I guess… Depends on your definition of friendship." He shook his head. "Anyways, this thing I have here is a PokéNav." He held it up. "If I give you guys this, you could contact Raven whenever you want, because we also have one."

"Wow!" Dawn exclaimed and clasped her hands. "That's great! …Um, how are you going to send it over here?"

Brendan looked around until he noticed a transporter attached to the phone. From what he knew, it was used for trading Pokémon with others, specifically whoever was on the other line of the phone.

"Um, is there a transporter thing attached to your phone?" Brendan asked.

Dawn was looking around. "Yeah. But isn't that for Poké Balls?"

Brendan nodded. "In that case… Just wait a moment, okay?" he asked and began looking around. His eyes landed on Minun, who was sitting next to Pearl and watching her try to use the PokéNav.

"Minun?"

Minun looked up at him curiously. "What's wrong Brendan?"

"I was wondering…" Brendan started slowly before pointing over at the video phone he was using. "So listen! I want to send this PokéNav over to Raven's friends in Sinnoh so I was wondering… If you were to hold this and I returned you to your Poké Ball, I'd send you over to them real fast and then they'd send you back. Okay?"

"Use your own Pokémon for that!" Pearl snapped and pulled Minun closer to her.

"Please?" Brendan asked. Although it seemed that he wasn't talking to Pearl, but rather talking to Minun.

Minun nodded. "Um… sure, I'll do it. You sure they'll send me back?"

"Positive! Let's go!"

"Wait a sec!" Pearl shouted as Brendan quickly took Minun and began going back to the video phone. "She's my Pokémon! Stop!"

For some odd reason, Minun had taken her own Poké Ball with her and handed it to Brendan, who in return handed the PokéNav to her. He returned Minun to her Poké Ball and set it on the transporter.

"Okay!" Brendan said, getting the attention of Dawn, who'd been looking away from the screen. "I'm gonna send a Pokémon over there, alright?"

Dawn nodded as Brendan continued explaining things. Finally, Brendan pressed the button to send the Poké Ball over.

A bright light came from the top of the transporter, coming down and striking the Poké Ball. The Poké Ball disappeared.

"…Um…" Brendan began. "Did it get there?"

Dawn looked around and screamed as something apparently made a noise. She recovered a moment later and held up the Poké Ball. "Is this it?"

Brendan nodded quickly. "Okay, let her out and she should be holding a PokéNav thing…"

Dawn did as told and released Minun. Dawn squealed happily and started hugging Minun tightly. "She's adorable! What kind of Pokémon is she?"

"A Minun," Brendan answered. "Does she have the PokéNav?"

Dawn looked down as Minun handed her the yellow device. Dawn turned it over in her hands and held up to the screen. "Is this it?"

"Yep!" Brendan said. "Okay, let's send Minun back before my sister has any more of a heart attack than she's already having."

"NOOOOOO!" Raven screamed. "SHE KISSED ME! NOOOO!"

Brendan made a face as the transporter returned Minun to him. "That's nice to know. How about you get back to talking to your friends?"

"I… I can't…" Raven said and kicked Nami off of her. "I've been… violated. THEY CAN'T SEE ME IN SUCH A STATE!" At this, Raven stood up and began running off towards the entrance of the Center, only to crash into someone standing there.

"Hey, watch it!" Raven snapped. She then blinked in confusion as she noticed that the person she ran into was Roxanne, the Gym Leader she had battled earlier.

Roxanne sighed and shook her head. "Reckless… Uh, anyways…" she began and pointed at Raven. "I came here for you."

Raven crossed her arms over herself. "Are you going to violate me too?"

Roxanne smacked herself. "Uh, I don't know where you think of these things, but no. You see, today's gym battle… You won it, fair and square."

"So I get the badge?"

"No. But-! I decided that you could come over to my home where I'll give you a lesson on anything I think you need to know."

"Why?"

"Because you're stupid. Afterwards, I'll give you the badge, got it?"

Raven sighed. "I guess… Just wait, I need to do something real fast…"


	10. Chapter Nine

Piplup: *sniff* Someone... evolved in this chapter!

Treecko: Only you would cry about something like that. Also, as of now, I don't think we need to include that Loveon doesn't own Pokémon. It's quite obvious she doesn't.

* * *

Chapter Nine

"Sit," Roxanne ordered and pointed at a couch. Raven sat down at the white couch that she had pointed at. Roxanne had brought her to her own home, a one floor house that was located behind the Rustboro Gym. Surprisingly, Roxanne was the only one there.

Roxanne began turning the lights on in the home before coming back to Raven and setting down a large pile of books next to her. "Now," she began and opened up the one on top of the pile. "First, I'll teach you about status aliments."

Raven rolled her eyes. "This is gonna be a really long night…"

---

"Thus, Return's power is better when you're closer to your Pokémon…" Roxanne explained. "And… Hey! HEY!"

Raven had fallen asleep while sitting up, not listening to a word she said.

"You little-!" Roxanne began and started shaking her. "Wake up!"

"What?" Raven grumbled, opening her eyes.

"Will you at least _try_ to listen to me?" Roxanne asked. "I'm doing this to help you, yet you're not listening at all!"

"Well, it's not like I was the one who asked you to teach me," Raven answered.

Roxanne glared at her. "Well you know what? I'll have you stay here all night long until I deem you smart enough!"

Raven snorted. Roxanne got ready to say something to her but suddenly fell out of her seat, covering her nose.

"What?" Raven asked.

"You-!" Roxanne began, stammering. "You smell gross!"

Raven lifted up and sniffed herself. "Huh… Do I really?"

"Yes, you do! When'd you bathe last?!"

Raven touched her chin. "Let's see… while we were moving to Hoenn… no, I think it was… no…"

Roxanne suddenly picked Raven up and began dragging her down the hallway. Raven began dragging her feet so Roxanne couldn't pull her and snapped, "What're you doing?!"

"You're taking a bath!" Roxanne said. "There's no way I'm letting you stink up my house! Here's something else you should learn: hygiene!"

And so Raven was forcibly given a bath by Roxanne.

---

The next day, at about 8 in the morning, Pearl and Brendan were both sitting in their room doing nothing. It was now Brendan's turn to try and figure out how to work the PokéNav, and he was apparently having an easier time doing so than Pearl had had.

"So, I wonder if Raven's going to come back to us as a genius?" Pearl suggested.

"Yeah, right," Brendan said sarcastically. "That'd end up being a miracle."

Pearl began putting her things back in her bag. "Maybe we should start getting ready to leave now, you know?"

Brendan looked at her in shock. "But I want to challenge Roxanne too!"

Pearl sighed. "You can. I'm just saying we might as well get our stuff ready."

"Fine…" Brendan grumbled and picked up his bag. He then stopped and grimaced. "Do you think… Raven's going to kill us for what we did?"

"We? I didn't participate in your crazy… whatever you were doing," Pearl said. "And I don't know what she'll do. She's the most unpredictable person that I've ever met. After Dad, of course."

Brendan nodded. "…I think I'm scared."

---

"Here. Have it back," Roxanne said and pushed Raven over to Brendan. Brendan and Pearl (and Nami, for some reason) were waiting outside the Pokémon Center for Raven to come back and… well, she came back.

Raven held her hand out to Roxanne. "Badge," she said.

"What're you supposed to say?"

Raven sighed. "Please?"

"Whoa, she even learned manners," Brendan said in awe.

Roxanne sighed and took a badge out of her pocket. "Here," she sighed and passed it to Raven. "And you know what to say now, right?"

Raven nodded. "Thank you."

Brendan began clapping. "Good girl!" he said, only to receive a glare from Raven.

Roxanne walked up to him and gave him a badge. "What?" Brendan began. "I didn't even battle you-"

"_Anyone_ who can put up with her for a full day deserves this badge," Roxanne said.

At this, Nami had walked up to Roxanne. "I've put up with her for a day. Can I have a badge?"

"You liar!" Raven snapped. "I barely know you!"

Nami began pouting at this. Just then, the doors of the Pokémon Center opened and Nurse Joy walked out.

"Excuse me, Brendan, Pearl, and Nami?" she said. "Your Pokémon are completely healed! Please come inside so I can give them to you!"

"Oh yeah…" Raven started. "I left my Pokémon at the Center last night…"

"But all of them are okay!" Brendan and Nami screamed and ran inside.

Roxanne sighed. "I'm leaving. I have a terrible headache…"

"Thanks Roxanne!" Pearl called as Roxanne walked away. "Sorry for the trouble she caused!"

"Get inside your Poké Ball!" Nami shouted, waving her arms around as she stood around Raven's Pokémon.

"Quick! Hurry! She's coming!" Brendan continued.

"What're you two doing?" Raven asked. The two screamed and both immediately began repeating "Sorry" and bowing to her.

Raven tilted her head. "What is it?" she asked and looked in between the two. There stood Piplup… and Cherrim… and a different Pokémon that oddly had the same colors as Ralts had. However, it was not Ralts… It was taller, and looked like it had hair and two horns on its head. To add to its already girly looks, it appeared to be wearing a dress.

"…Who is that?" Raven asked at pointed at the other Pokémon.

"I'm sorry!" Nami cried and grabbed Raven's leg. "While you were gone last night… Ralts insisted that we help him train because he wanted to be stronger and… He evolved!"

"Evolved? What's that?"

"I thought you were learning things last night…" Brendan grumbled.

Raven thought for a moment. "Evolution… Oh yeah, isn't that uh… when a Pokémon gets… um…"

"Don't hurt yourself," Brendan answered. "By the way, Ralts is now Kirlia."

Raven nodded and looked at Kirlia. "…Man, he looks like a little girl now."

"I'm sorry!" Kirlia whined and began crying.

"No no no!" Raven said and began patting Kirlia's head. "Please stop crying! Stop!"

"And along with evolution comes a personality change," Brendan added. "Now… let's get going to Dewford Town!"

Pearl nodded. "But first… let's stop at Petalburg, okay?"

"What, we're just gonna leave right now?!" Raven asked, still trying to stop Kirlia's crying. "Don't we need to pack our stuff?"

"Already did it," Pearl answered. "Now let's hurry before Nami realizes that we're leaving. By the way… Kazuki and Megan left somewhere else, so they're not coming with us."


	11. Chapter Ten

A/N: *Wally fan*

* * *

Chapter Ten

At around 10 in the morning, the three arrived in Petalburg City. Pearl hurried off to the Poké Mart, Raven skipped off gaily to her father's Gym, and Brendan simply sat outside and played with Mudkip and Treecko.

---

"Hey Dad!~" Raven shouted as she walked into the Gym.

Norman was talking with a couple of boys, who ran off into other rooms in the Gym. He turned around, smiling at Raven.

"Hey Raven!"

"Look at this!" Raven shouted and held out the badge she got. "It's a badge!"

Norman began clapping. "Great job Raven!" he said. "Battling runs in our blood!"

"YEAH!~" Raven shouted and dropped her badge on the floor. She picked it up and stuck it in her pocket. "Dropped it. Sorry."

Norman laughed. "Don't you have a bag or case to put that in?"

"Nope."

"Well, I'll get one for you…" he said. Just then, the doors of the Gym opened and a green haired boy walked in. He looked around nervously and looked at the ground sheepishly.

"Oh-!" Norman began and tapped his chin. "You're… Wally, right?"

Wally nodded nervously. "That's right… Um, tomorrow… my parents… Well, I'm going to be sent to Verdanturf Town tomorrow to live with my cousin because… you know, the air there is…" Wally stopped talking.

"The air there is clean, right? Good for people with illnesses?" Norman asked.

Wally nodded. "Yes… But I didn't want to be all alone so I wanted to catch a Pokémon… To have a friend, you know? So I was wondering if…"

"You need help catching one?" Norman finished and Wally nodded. Norman looked at Raven expectantly, who was completely clueless to why he was looking at her. "Raven?"

"Yes sir?"

"I want you to go and help Wally catch a Pokémon!"

Raven sighed. "I guess I will…"

Wally smiled. "Thank you miss… um, Raven right?"

Raven nodded. "Right…"

"Wally, here's a Poké Ball and you can borrow one of my Pokémon," Norman said and handed him two Poké Balls.

"Thank you very much, Mr. Norman!" Wally said excitedly. "Raven… shall we go?"

Raven nodded and the two left the Gym.

---

"I… I can't find any Pokémon!" Wally whined and fell to his knees. "I won't be able to find one at all at this rate…"

"Yeah, you're right…" Raven agreed. "Oh… um… but you'll find one for sure!"

Wally smiled. "Yeah… Thanks so much for helping me Raven! I really do appreciate it!"

"I'm not even really helping…" Raven muttered. She then spotted something with a green head moving through the grass. "I'VE GOT IT!" she shouted and dove for the Pokémon. "Wally! GO!"

Wally nodded. "Go!" he yelled and tossed the Poké Ball that contained Norman's Pokémon. A brown raccoon-like Pokémon came out. "Um… This is a Zigzagoon, right?"

"Uh…" Raven began sheepishly. "Yeah! It is!" _What is that?!_

"Do you know what attacks it knows?"

"…Tackle?" Raven suggested. _I don't have a clue!_

"Okay Zigzagoon!" Wally said. "Use tackle on that Pokémon Raven's holding!"

Raven then finally noticed that she was holding the green headed Pokémon she saw in the grass. Much her surprise, it was a Ralts.

"Ow!" Raven cried as the Zigzagoon tackled both her and the Ralts. "Just, like, through the Poké Ball!"

"Shouldn't I weaken it a bit more..?" Wally asked. He then shook his head and decided to listen to Raven. He took out the other Poké Ball and threw it at Ralts. Ralts went inside the Poké Ball, which began rocking around. Finally… it stopped.

"…I think you caught it," Raven said.

Wally ran over happily and picked up the Poké Ball. "Oh… wow! I caught it! My own Pokémon!"

"Good for you," Raven said and began clapping.

"Thank you so much Raven!" Wally continued. "Let's go back to the Gym now, right?"

Raven nodded and the two began walking back, with Wally talking about how happy he was.

---

"So you caught a Pokémon?" Norman asked as the two entered the Gym. "That was pretty fast… I'm impressed!"

Wally nodded. "It's all thanks to Raven! She was a great help too!"

Wally handed Norman his Pokémon and looked down at the Poké Ball that contained his own Pokémon. "This is a Ralts, right?"

"Yes. Yes it is," Raven said. "I have one too.~"

"You do!? Can I see it?!"

Raven laughed. "Actually, he evolved, so he's not a Ralts anymore…"

"Can I still see?!"

Norman nodded. "Go on, let out all your Pokémon. I'd like to see them all."

Raven sighed and released Piplup, Cherrim, and Kirlia. Wally immediately ran over to them, looking at each of them in awe. "Wow! Your Pokémon are amazing!"

"You're very green," Cherrim said. "What's with your hair?"

Wally touched his hair. "It's just the way it is…"

Kirlia quickly hurried to hide behind Raven. "W-who is that?!"

"Don't worry. He's not going to bite you," Raven said.

Just then, Brendan walked into the Gym. "Raven! I found out how we're going to get to Dewford. Mr. Briney offered to bring us there…"

"…Oh, you're leaving?" Wally asked, slightly disappointed. "Well… thanks so much for helping me!"

At this, Norman went up to Raven and handed her a bag. "There. I found a bag you can use. Try not to lose your badges, okay?"

Raven nodded and began leaving the Gym with her Pokémon following. Brendan waved to them and followed after her.

Wally sighed after Raven was gone and Norman looked at him in amusement.


	12. Chapter Eleven

A/N: Yes, I made Brawly own a Riolu. I don't know why.

* * *

Chapter Eleven

"Are you sure you're going to be okay?" Pearl asked Raven, who was sitting down in a ball and refusing to look up.

"I'm fine…" she answered. "I'm just a little dizzy, that's all…"

The three had met up with Mr. Briney, who Brendan introduced the other two to. Mr. Briney had brought them over to his boat, which he had already gotten ready since Brendan had asked him beforehand. Now, they were sailing off to Dewford Town.

"Wingull!"

"It's sitting on my head, isn't it?" Raven asked as she felt something land on her head.

"If you mean Peeko, then yes. Peeko is using you as a landing spot."

Raven sighed and moved her head, causing Peeko to fly off of her and land on Treecko, who looked even more annoyed by its presence than Raven had been.

Piplup, Cherrim, and Kirlia were all looking out at the ocean happily, talking about completely random non-ocean topics. Minun and Bellossom were watching Mudkip be seasick, much to their amusement.

"Hey, all of you!" Mr. Briney called from where he was driving the boat. "If you look up ahead, you can see Dewford Town coming up! I've got to slow down now because I don't want to run over any of the surfers here…"

"Oh great, surfers…" Raven said and finally stood up, leaning herself over the boat's railing. She saw a blue haired boy surfing with a tiny Pokémon holding onto his leg and grinned evilly.

"Kirlia?"

"Yes Raven?" Kirlia responded and looked up at her.

"See that blue haired guy surfing with the little blue Pokémon? On the blue surfboard?"

"Yes…"

"I want you to use Confusion on the waves to mess him up!"

Kirlia frowned. "But… Okay…" Kirlia shut his eyes and soon enough, the water near the boy Raven had described exploded, causing the boy and the Pokémon to nearly fall off. Much to Raven's dislike, they were both still on the board.

"We've reached land!" Mr. Briney announced as the boat stopped at a boardwalk. The three all thanked Mr. Briney and got of the boat, Brendan and Pearl doing so carefully while Raven simply jumped and landed on the boardwalk.

"Yeah, you're just a genius, aren't you?" Brendan asked and pulled Raven back up.

"I'm hungry," Raven said.

"Way to change the subject," Brendan continued and rolled his eyes. "Who else is hungry?"

"Me!" all of the Pokémon shouted and raised their hands.

"Let's go eat lunch… or breakfast then!" he shouted and all of them except for Pearl ran off.

She sighed. "I might as well head to the Pokémon Center…"

---

Brendan slid into a seat at the dining area in the Pokémon Center, bringing a plate full of food with him. As he began eating, he watched a television set in the room.

"Police arrested two criminals charged with stealing from the Devon Corporation. The criminals were apparently stopped by a crowd of people, who all noticed that something suspicious was happening."

Brendan snorted. "Way to alter the story, genius reporters."

"Brendan…"

Brendan sighed and looked behind himself. Raven was leaning over the seat he was at. "I'm going outside," she said.

"What, to torture the surfers?"

"Maybe.~"

Brendan shrugged. "I don't care what you do. But didn't you say you were hungry?"

"Yeah, I did. Can I steal something from your plate?" she asked and quickly reached out and took a bag of chips he had, running off quickly.

"I NEVER SAID YOU COULD!" Brendan shouted but simply dropped the subject.

---

Piplup looked at Raven in disbelief. "You seriously need me to open up… a bag of chips?"

"Shh, keep it down!" Raven said. "I don't want anyone to know that I can't open it!"

"Well what makes you think I'm much stronger than you?"

"Um…"

Raven then noticed a shadow over her, causing her to look behind herself to see who was standing there. To her surprise, it was the boy she had had Kirlia attack. Getting a closer look at him, she could see that his blue hair was spiky.

He bent down to her and took the bag of chips, opening it up for her. "There you go, kid!" he said, grinning at her.

"I didn't need help at all, you know!" she snapped.

"Liar. Yes you did," Piplup added. Raven quickly shoved him underneath the sand.

"So-!" the guy began and sat down. "I saw you on that boat! Was that Kirlia yours?"

Raven shook her head. Piplup's voice could be heard screaming "YES!"

"My name's Brawly!" he continued. "Who're you?"

"Sorry, that's classified information."

Brawly laughed. "You're pretty funny kid!"

"Oh great…" Raven grumbled and slapped herself.

Piplup finally got out of the sand, gagging as he spit sand out. "Mr. Brawly sir!" Piplup began. "Her name's Raven! She's from Littleroot Town, and has an evil attitude!"

"Raven, huh…" Brawly began and thought for a moment. "Got it! I'll call you the Ravester! Ravester, little penguin dude, come on and surf with me and Riolu!"

"Rio who?" Piplup asked and began following Brawly. "Don't tell me we're going to Vegas."

Brawly laughed. "No no! Riolu's my Pokémon… A friend of mine in Sinnoh recently gave him to me because he thought Riolu would be better off with a Trainer who specializes in Fighting type Pokémon. My friend, he was a Water type Trainer."

All of a sudden, Raven was standing closely at his side. "Did you say Sinnoh?"

"Yeah…"

"I'm from Sinnoh!"

Brawly patted her head. "That's cool, kid! Maybe you can help me out later with something then!"

At this, they then reached the place Brawly had stuck his surfboard at, where the blue Pokémon from before was clinging onto the surfboard, glaring at Brawly. Brawly bent down to pet the Pokémon's head only to have it jump back and throw some kind of blue blast at him, which he blocked with his surfboard.

"You see…" Brawly began and smiled nervously. "Riolu… doesn't like me at all."

"Aw, that's just so sad," Raven said and rolled her eyes. "Well, here's something! Yesterday I was given an all night Pokémon lesson by some loony Gym Leader named Roxanne! She told me that… uh… If you don't have the second Gym Badge, Pokémon above level 30 won't listen to you if they aren't yours!"

Brawly smiled sheepishly. "Well, yeah, but you see…"

"She said once you'd get the eighth badge from some leader in some… city, all Pokémon, traded or not, will listen to you!"

Brawly nodded. "I know, I know. You see, I-"

"I have no problem getting my Pokémon to listen to me!" Raven continued, waving her arms around. "Cherrim's not even mine, and Roxanne said she doesn't even understand how or why he listens to me, since he's probably at level 30 already…"

"Cherrim's just stupid," Piplup added. "He'd listen to anything anyone told him."

Brawly finally was able to talk due to Raven having to take a breath from all her talking. "Well, like I've been trying to say… I'm the Gym Leader here!"

Raven waved her hand. "Yeah, yeah. You're the Gym Leader and I'm a fairy princess."

"I'm serious."

"So am I."

Brawly shrugged. "Okay then, don't believe me…" He then turned back to the Riolu. "Hey, buddy! This girl here, she's from Sinnoh, just like you! Like, would you feel more comfortable if you hung out with her for a bit?"

Riolu gave him an evil glare.

"See, she even has a Piplup! He's from Sinnoh too!"

Riolu continued glaring.

"Okay then!" Brawly said and reached out to grab Riolu's arm. "Stay with her for a bit, will you?"

Riolu attacked him.

---

"Let's get to delivering that letter to the Steven guy!" Brendan said, standing outside the Pokémon Center with Mudkip and Treecko.

"Steven…?" Mudkip began but shook his head. "Let's go then!"

Treecko sighed. "Beaches… water…" he began and looked around the island. "…I hate this."

"Well, don't you hate everything?" Mudkip asked. "Personally, I find the water to be very nice."

"Please, just shut up."

Brendan sighed and began walking off somewhere, Mudkip and Treecko following him while arguing at the same time. Brendan looked around curiously to spot a blue Pokémon sitting on the sand, hugging its knees and grumbling.

"Hey there!" Brendan began and knelt down to it. "What's up, little guy?"

The Pokémon glared at him.

"Brendan, you should be really careful…"

Brendan looked up to see Raven standing behind a tree warily, looking at the Pokémon. Piplup clung to her leg, looking at it as well.

"Why?"

"Because he attacks at random five minute intervals!" Raven shouted.

"That's not random if it's every five minutes…"

The Pokémon got up and moved away from Brendan, sitting somewhere else. Mudkip followed the Pokémon quickly.

Brawly came out from behind the same tree. "Is he still there?" he asked, looking around nervously.

Brendan gasped and pointed at Brawly. "You… you're Brawly! The Gym Leader!"

Brawly nodded. "Yep, I am! The Ravester didn't believe me though."

"I told you not to call me that!" Raven snapped.

"Well…" Brendan began and took the letter out of his bag. "I've got to go deliver this to that guy… Mr. Stone said he was probably exploring the cave, right?"

Brawly turned around and pointed somewhere. "Granite Cave, you mean? It's right over there. I'll warn you now, though, it's super dark in there."

Brendan tensed up as he felt the presence of someone else standing behind him. He didn't even bother to turn around, since he knew who it was.

"That's okay! My Minun can light it up!"

Brendan sighed. "I knew you were following me…"

"That's right!" Pearl said and struck a pose. "Because if I didn't, you'd get lost in the cave, crying like a baby!"

"I would not!"

"Yes you would! Big sister Pearl would come and save you though, and then Dad would have to tell you to be more careful!"

Raven was grinning evilly. "Sounds like it's already happened before."

"Well, it didn't!" Brendan snapped and began running off to where he hoped the cave would be. Pearl followed him far to happily for her own good and Raven sighed, slowly walking after them.

"Ah, wait!" Brawly began and stopped her. "Hey, Riolu! Come on, follow her! Have some fun!" he called out. Riolu turned around and glared at him. However, he did stand up and hurried over to stand by Raven, keeping his distance from Brawly.

"Alright, I'm counting on you!" Brawly said and gave her a thumbs-up.

Raven shrugged and walked away, Riolu clinging to her leg and continuingly turning back to make sure Brawly wasn't following them.


	13. Chapter Twelve

A/N: MOAR EVOLUTION! D: *shot*

* * *

Chapter Twelve

Granite Cave was… well, simply put, it was a cave. Nothing special about it.

"…This Steven guy must be really bored to actually 'explore' a cave like this," Brendan commented. "By the way…" he continued and turned back to where Raven was standing with Piplup, Cherrim, Kirlia, and Riolu. "Raven, what's with the fourth Pokémon?"

"Oh, this is Riolu," Raven said and pointed at him. "He belongs to Brawly. But when I told him I was from Sinnoh, he got this crazy idea that if Riolu stayed with me for a bit, he would… be nicer? I don't really know myself."

Pearl grinned. "Well, he's a little cutie!"

Riolu looked away from them and pinned himself to Raven's legs. Kirlia was doing the same, yet eyeing Riolu suspiciously.

"Well… let's go then!" Brendan shouted.

And so… they entered the cave.

---

"N-n-noooo! GET IT AWAY!" Pearl shrieked and dove onto the cave floor, crawling behind a rock. A bat Pokémon flew past them, not even noticing Pearl at all.

"Hey, you wanted to come along," Brendan said. Minun was sitting on top of his head, her tail lighting up and letting them see.

Pearl quickly stood up, wiping imaginary sweat off her forehead. "Hey, I'm just practicing! Remember, that's what you do in case of a… um… an earthquake!"

"HEY GUYS!~" Raven called out from wherever in the cave she was. "The cave opens up into this big wide space up ahead! Hurry up!"

"Man, she never even shows any excitement over anything," Brendan said and ran ahead, trying to figure out where Raven was. Pearl followed him.

The two soon found Raven, sitting in a hole in a wall with her Pokémon sitting on her. Raven pointed over to the other side of the hole she was sitting in. "It's over here."

Brendan sighed and began climbing up on the rocks to reach Raven. Once he reached the hole, he found it was more like a tunnel in a wall. Not to far away the tunnel ended into another part of the cave.

After helping Pearl get up into the tunnel as well, they began heading through the tunnel. Once they reached the end, the tunnel led out into something that couldn't even be classified as a cavern, or a cave room, or a… It was like a big hole. It went high up to where the top of the cave would be and below seemed to go all the way to the very bottom of the cave. Rocks jutted out of the sides and other tunnels led into it as well.

And unless you had enough skill to hop and climb on the rocks sticking out everywhere, it was virtually impossible to go into it.

"What's the point of this?" Brendan asked. "We can't go anywhere here!"

Raven shrugged. "I know. Does that mean we have to turn around and find another tunnel?"

"Useless," Pearl muttered and began walking away. "You are useless."

Raven made a face at her and continued looking out at the hole. "It's not my fault I'm useless!"

At this, Raven swung her leg and knocked a rock out of the wall, falling down into the bottom of the cave. Raven waited to here it fall. She didn't here it.

"Hey, come on Raven!" Brendan shouted. Raven nodded and followed him, the four Pokémon following her quickly. Riolu stopped momentarily however and turned around, looking back at the place. He then shook his head and continued following Raven.

Quiet rumbling noises were beginning to be heard from the bottom of the cave.

---

"Hello?!" Mudkip shouted. "Mr. Steven? Are you anywhere in here?"

"I don't think he'd hear us," Piplup said and sighed.

At this, everyone sat down on the cave floor, all sighing at the same time.

"We'll never find him at this rate…" Pearl mumbled.

"Okay, I am _so_ out of here," Raven said and began walking off.

Just then, shouts could be heard from somewhere in the cave. Everyone jumped up and began looking around.

"Rio!" Riolu began and started running off, hopping on the rocks.

"W-what the-?!" Brendan began, looking in Riolu's direction. "I didn't understand him at all!"

"Well, he said to follow him!" Raven said and began running after Riolu.

"And why is it that you can understand him!?"

Riolu had stopped up ahead where the tunnel had yet again into a large part of the cave, similar to the one before. This time, however, the bottom of the cave was filled with silver things. All of them were moving, so obviously they were alive.

A man was above them, standing on a rock piece hanging out of the wall and trying to keep his balance. Once he noticed Raven and Riolu, he waved his arm around.

"Careful you two! Don't get any closer!"

"Raven, who was that?!" Pearl asked as she caught up with her. Once she saw the man, she screamed loudly, causing all of the silver things below to become more rowdy.

"I got an idea!" Raven shouted to the man. "I'll have my Kirlia help you out!"

At this, Raven looked behind herself to where Kirlia was standing behind her. "Kirlia, please help this man out!"

Kirlia nodded and jumped out of the tunnel, hopping along the rocks until he reached the same one the man was on. Kirlia raised his arms and began using some kind of psychic abilities to keep the man from not falling.

"Hey, good thinking…" Brendan said and patted Raven's head.

"Whatever…" Raven muttered.

Kirlia suddenly stopped whatever he was doing and looked around in confusion. He started glowing white and began to change shape.

"Hey, what the-?!" Raven started.

"He's… He's evolving again?!" Brendan said, sounding somewhat horrified.

Soon the light disappeared and a different Pokémon was in Kirlia's place. It was a darker green, with spike-like things sticking out of its face. Its arms had sharp points at the end of its elbows.

And with evolution comes weight gain. The rock the two were standing on broke and the two fell into the bottom of the cave.

The man grabbed a Poké Ball and threw it. "Skarmory! I need your help!"

A silver bird came out, with yellow eyes and wings that looked like steel. It began flapping its wings quickly, causing the Pokémon to all begin falling into each other and begin backing away. The bird stopped and the man waved to the others above.

"Quick! Jump down while they aren't paying attention and I'll bring you to the exit!"

---

Outside, everyone sat down on the ground, exhausted. The man laughed sheepishly as he returned Skarmory to its Poké Ball and faced them all.

"Sorry 'bout that. Are you all okay?"

Everyone nodded. Everyone except for whatever Kirlia had evolved into, who was sitting far away from them, looking at himself.

"Hey, wait a sec…" the man began and looked closer at them. "I remember you kids! I met you in Petalburg! I'm Steven, remember?"

"WHAT?!" Brendan screamed. "So the Steven we had to deliver to a letter to… Was the very same Steven Stone?!"

At this, Brendan quickly handed Steven the letter and sat back down, talking to himself. "Wait a sec, now that I think about it, they do have the same last name…"

"By the way," Steven began and pointed over at the evolved Kirlia. "Looks like your Kirlia accidentally got too close to the Dawn Stone I had in my pocket. He evolved. Um… I think he evolved into Gallade."

Gallade looked behind himself and at them. "W-what happened to me!?"

"You… evolved…" Piplup said, looking at him in shock with Cherrim. Kirlia, who had been probably about two feet tall, had now grown to be at least 5 and a half feet tall.

"Since we're in Hoenn, and that's a Sinnoh Pokémon…" Steven began and put the letter in his pocket. "If your Poké Dex isn't in National Dex mode, you can't get data on Gallade."

Riolu was also looking at Gallade. Differently than how Piplup and Cherrim were looking at him, though. He was looking at Gallade in more of an admiring way.

"I'm sorry if you didn't want Kirlia to evolve…" Steven said. "I do appreciate you trying to help me out though. Those Aron and Lairon got pretty angry for no reason. Something must've fallen on them. The ones here have pretty short tempers, so just about anything and everything'll make them angry."

Raven thought for a moment. "Now that I think about it, I did kick a rock into the bottom of the cave… Nah, it probably didn't even touch them…"

"Well, thanks for giving me this!" Steven said. "Guess my dad got a hold of you guys and forced things on you to do, right?"

Brendan nodded. "I guess so! It's not a problem though."

Steven laughed. "I hope not… Anyways, maybe we should head back to the Pokémon Center?" he asked and pointed at Gallade. "I think he has a bit of a problem, so maybe he needs to rest…"

Gallade looked at them all. "I… I think I'm ugly!" he said.

And Raven began laughing.


	14. Chapter Thirteen

A/N: Totally random chapter. Yes. Gallade has self esteem issues.

* * *

Chapter Thirteen

Back at the Pokémon Center, Gallade was sitting in a corner of the Pokémon Center, rocking himself back and forth. Piplup, Cherrim, Mudkip, and Treecko were trying to comfort him.

"Alright Riolu…" Raven began, patting Riolu's head. The two were getting ready to leave the Pokémon Center apparently, as they were standing at the entrance. "I guess I have to bring you back to Brawly now, huh?"

Riolu nodded. "Rio! Riolu!"

"Yes, I had fun too," Raven said and the two began walking outside. "Is Brawly at his Gym, you think?"

Riolu shrugged and then nodded. Raven sighed and began heading off to where she hoped she'd be able to find the Gym.

---

"Hello?!" Raven shouted.

Sure enough, she had found the Gym. However, it was pitch black inside and pretty much impossible to see.

"Hey you!" a girl's voice shouted and Raven felt that someone was standing in front of her. "You'll have to battle us Gym Trainers if you run into us! Guess what? You ran into me!"

"Wait a second!" Raven said and waved her hands around. "This isn't my… I don't have my Pokémon with me!"

"Tough luck!" the girl shouted. "Meditite, let's go!"

Raven grimaced and looked to her left, where Riolu was. "Well, Riolu… Guess we have to battle together, huh?"

Riolu nodded enthusiastically.

---

"I'm a circus freak!" Gallade cried, still rocking himself around.

"No you're not!" Piplup said, waving his hands around. "You're fine! There's nothing wrong with you!"

"But I evolved! I'm weird looking now!"

"Well, you evolved in Rustboro, remember?" Treecko asked. "So what's the problem now?"

"Well… I'm not at eye level with anyone anymore…"

Mudkip nodded. "Yeah. You are a freak… No, wait! I mean-"

Gallade began crying again.

"Oh yeah!" Treecko snapped and hit Mudkip. "Great job there!"

Mudkip grumbled to himself. "Well sorry!"

Cherrim patted Gallade's head. "It's okay Gallade!" he said cheerfully. "You might've changed, but we all think of you as the same as before! Your our buddy, no matter what you look like!"

Gallade looked over at him. "…Really?"

"Yeah, really!" Piplup added. Treecko nodded as did Mudkip.

Gallade grinned sheepishly and looked down at the floor. "Guess I over-reacted, right?"

"A little, yes," Treecko said.

---

Brawly sat at the back of his Gym, messing with the things lying around in the back. He heard someone walk up behind him and he waved his hand.

"Just a moment and I'll be with you!"

"Brawly."

Brawly looked behind himself to see a very angry looking Raven glaring at him. Riolu stood by her side calmly.

"Oh… what's up, Ravester?"

"I battled all of your retarded Gym Trainers. Happy now!?"

Brawly laughed. "Did you now? That's great…"

"Rio!" Riolu began and ran over to Brawly, who screamed like a little girl and covered himself. "…Rio?"

Brawly looked up to see that Riolu had actually not attacked him at all. Brawly slowly reached out to pat his head. Riolu didn't attack him that time either.

Brawly sighed in relief before running over to Raven gaily and hugging her tightly. "I… I don't know how you did it, but you made Riolu nicer to me! You're a miracle worker!"

"Great…" Raven muttered. "How about you let go of me now?"

"Right right…" Brawly said and backed away from her. He then walked over to the pile of junk he had been messing with and opened up a box, taking something out. He rubbed against his shirt before holding it out to Raven.

"You've helped me out a lot so I think you deserve this," he said. In his hand was a blue, fist shaped piece of metal. "It's the Knuckle Badge!"

Raven took the badge warily and looked at it. "Really? I just get a badge for doing nothing at all?"

"Hey, not only did you somehow get Riolu to listen to me…" Brawly began. "But you battled all of my Gym Trainers with Riolu as well!"

"So you knew I was here the entire time?!"

Brawly shrugged. "I didn't know it was _you_. I just thought it was someone coming to challenge the gym. By the way, your albino buddy? Does he want to battle me later?"

"Albino buddy?" Raven asked and thought for a moment. "Oh, you mean Brendan? I guess so…"

---

"So, let me get this straight…" Brendan said and put down the can of soda he was drinking. "You're telling me that Brawly wants to have a battle with me right now?"

Raven nodded. "That's right!"

Brendan pointed out a window. "Listen, I know your sense of time sucks but… It's nighttime already! Can't we wait until the morning?!"

Raven shook her head.

Brendan sighed. "Guess there's no way of escaping this… What time?"

"12 a.m."

"Go away."


	15. Chapter Fourteen: VS Brawly!

A/N: I was sleepy while writing this chapter... Also, Brawly likes nicknaming people. Brendan's the... Brendanator. *shot*

* * *

Chapter Fourteen

Somehow or another, Brendan agreed to have a battle with Brawly at 12 in the morning. Most people were asleep as Brawly and Brendan (along with Raven, Pearl, and all the Pokémon tagging along as sleepy spectators) went out onto the beach to have their battle.

"Alright!" Brawly said and pumped his fists in the air. "Brendan, that's your name right? I'll call you Bren! No… the Brendanator!"

Brendan sighed. "Great, I'm the Brendanator…"

Brawly laughed. "Yep! So, come on! I'll send out a Pokémon first!"

At this, Brawly took out a Poké Ball and threw it in the air. A yellow Pokémon with red circles on its cheeks, a knot on its head, and slanting eyes came out of the Poké Ball.

"This is Makuhita! Like my other Pokémon and me, he's a surfer!"

Brendan nodded. "Okay… I'll chose…" he began and threw a Poké Ball. "Mudkip!"

Mudkip came out only to fall over drowsily. "I know you told me we were having a nighttime battle but… I'm really sleepy!"

Brendan went and sat Mudkip up. "Come on now!" Brendan said supportively. "I know you're tired, but do your best!"

"Hey…" Brawly began and looked where the others were sitting. "How about one of you ladies be a referee?"

Pearl nodded and stood up. "I'll try! Okay… let the battle end… I mean, begin!"

"Makuhita!" Brawly started and pointed at Mudkip. "Let's go! Use Arm Thrust!"

Makuhita ran towards Mudkip and began striking him with his hands. Mudkip fell victim to every single hit, tumbling backwards while still trying to figure out what was happening.

"Mudkip! Water Gun!" Brendan commanded. Mudkip yawned loudly before spraying a blast of water at Makuhita, who stopped the water by punching it.

"My turn!" Brawly said. "Seismic Toss!"

"Mudkip, you have to get out of the way!" Brendan shouted. Before Mudkip could even understand what he said, Makuhita had grabbed him, jumped in the air, and threw Mudkip into the ground.

Mudkip slowly got up, yawned yet again, before falling over into the sand.

"Mudkip's unable to battle!" Pearl called. "Brendan, please choose your next Pokémon!"

Brendan nodded as he returned Mudkip to his Poké Ball. "Sorry Mudkip…" he muttered. "Well, Treecko, I hope you're awake…"

Brendan sent Treecko out next. Unlike Mudkip, Treecko was wide awake and alert.

"Treecko!" Brendan shouted. "Let's go with Quick Attack!"

Treecko nodded and moved quickly, disappearing one moment and hitting Makuhita the next.

"Makuhita, use Counter!"

Makuhita punched Treecko, sending him flying back over to where Brendan stood. Treecko quickly hopped back up.

"Let's see…" Brendan began and thought for a moment. "Treecko! Let's use… that one move!"

Treecko looked back at him. "Oh, you mean… _that_ move?"

Brawly and Makuhita looked at each other in confusion. "I don't know what they're talking about…"

Treecko quickly walked up to Makuhita and kicked sand into his face, acting like it was something normal to do.

"H-hey!" Brawly began. "What're you doing?!"

"The special move that's all!" Treecko said. He then sighed as he continued the "special move"; the next part was waving his arms around like he was dancing.

Makuhita finally got the sand out of his face and simply watched as Treecko continued… dancing.

"Okay…" Brendan continued and pointed up at the sky. "Treecko! Finish the 'special move'!

"Right…" Treecko muttered and slapped Makuhita in the face.

"What are you doing!?" Brawly asked, slightly annoyed now as their "special move" was finished.

Brendan shrugged. "Stalling, I suppose…"

Brawly looked over at Makuhita to find that he had fallen fast asleep. "What the-?! But how did-?!"

"You know how when one person yawns, then everyone else starts yawning?" Brendan asked. "Well, that's kind of what Mudkip did to Makuhita."

"But why did-?!" Brawly began. "How-? Why did he-… This is so confusing!"

Brendan gave Treecko a thumbs-up. "Now let's be serious now, shall we?"

Treecko nodded and began striking Makuhita repeatedly with his tail until he fell over, unconscious.

Brawly smirked. "Clever little idea of yours," he said and returned Makuhita. "But get ready to face someone even stronger… Riolu, let's go!"

---

"So… tired…" Raven muttered, sleeping against Gallade, who was also asleep. The others, including Pearl, had also fallen asleep during Brendan and Brawly's battle.

"I am… your ruler…!" Cherrim mumbled in his sleep before suddenly waking up. The sun was beginning to rise now, but just only if you had super Cherrim vision could you see it.

He spotted Treecko still standing, he and Riolu still apparently fighting. All of a sudden, Riolu toppled over and passed out, Treecko following soon after.

"…He won?" Cherrim asked and stood up, hurrying over to Pearl and shaking her awake. "Pearl… hey, Pearl! Treecko won! He won the battle!"

Pearl mumbled something, still fast asleep. Cherrim stood there in silence before he decided to fall asleep standing up.

---

Once everyone had woken up, with no one knowing who the winner was other than Cherrim, the interrogation of Cherrim began.

"Who one?!" Piplup asked, shaking Cherrim around.

"Um… like, what are your standards of who won or lost?"

"Who passed out first?"

"Well, technically, that would've been you…"

"Cherrim! I mean Treecko and Riolu!"

"Oh. Well, I don't really remember…"

Piplup slapped his forehead. "I swear, is there any point in talking with you?"

Finally, Riolu had come over to them after he himself had woken up. "The winner…" he began and slapped a hand over both Cherrim and Piplup's mouths. "It was Treecko. Get it? Got it? Good."

And Riolu walked away.

"He's weird," Cherrim said.

"Like you have any room to talk," Piplup answered.


	16. Chapter Fifteen

A/N: Short chapter... Also, the coming up of Gallade's nickname was actually something I really did do. I misread my own handwriting and nicknamed my Gallade Guru-n instead of Guri-n, which is what I had written down. Then I decided it was too girly sounding, so I stuck with Guru-n.

* * *

Chapter Fifteen

"So, Slateport City's where your headed next?"

Brendan nodded. He was talking to Mr. Briney, who was sitting on a boardwalk talking with Peeko.

Mr. Briney nodded. "All right then! Get your buddies together and I'll get the boat ready!"

"Thanks!" Brendan said and stood up, racing back to Pokémon Center.

"Kids these days…" Mr. Briney said and looked at Peeko. "Aren't they energetic?"

Peeko squawked.

---

Brendan sat against the railing of the boat, taking a look at the badge he had received from Brawly. Unlike the previous Gym Leader, whom had just given the badge to Brendan with no battle at all, Brendan actually earned this badge, fair and square.

"Sensei, are you okay?"

Gallade stood over Raven concernedly as she was sitting in a ball. Raven waved her hands.

"I'm fine. Just go."

"Sensei, are you sure?" Gallade asked.

Raven looked up at him. "What's it with you calling me sensei now?! It's really-" Raven stopped in mid-sentence and covered her mouth, making foul noises.

"Do you need medicine?" Gallade continued. "Or anything? Anything at all?"

"Gallade…" Pearl started and put a hand on his shoulder. "She's fine. Also, you aren't going to get an answer from her."

---

"Alright, here's your stop!" Mr. Briney announced. He had stopped the boat at a beach. People were all over the beach, towels and umbrellas laid out everyone. A shack on the beach had a sign that read "Beach House".

"I love beaches!" Pearl sang and jumped off the boat, being followed by everyone else. "Not to mention Slateport City has a ton of shops too.~"

"You kids have fun now!" Mr. Briney said.

Brendan nodded. "We will! Thanks again, Mr. Briney!"

"HEY!"

Brendan looked away to see that Raven had walked through and destroyed a sand castle to two little kids were making. The children were obviously angry at Raven, who was unaware of them.

"Great. She's already causing trouble."

Afterwards, Pearl and Brendan dragged her to a Pokémon Center, apologizing to the children for her destroying their sand castle. The children still didn't looked pleased.

"Here's something Raven!" Pearl said, sitting down at a table in the diner area of the Pokémon Center. "There's a man called the Name Rater. He'll rate the nicknames of your Pokémon and do things like predict their luck and stuff like that."

"Sounds like a rip-off," Raven answered.

Pearl sighed. "Like, maybe you should give one of your Pokémon a nickname, you know? Like call Piplup Pippy or call Cherrim Cherry…"

Noticing the odd look she was receiving from Raven, she quickly shook her head. "Never mind. Maybe consider it, okay?"

And Raven had gone off somewhere before she ended the sentence.

---

"Alright! I've come up with a nickname for my Gallade, Mr. Name Rater!" Raven announced, holding up a piece of paper. Pearl and Brendan had both come along with her to see what nickname she'd come up with since she refused to tell them.

"I see, I see!" the old man sitting there said, nodding and looking at Gallade, who was standing behind Raven timidly. "And what would it be?"

Raven cleared her throat before announcing the name.

"Guru-n!"

"What the-?!" Brendan and Pearl both began.

"You see, I used the computers at the Pokémon to look up stuff online! I found this site that translates English into Japanese so I put in green and out came guru-n! So I wrote it down and here we are!" Raven explained.

Pearl had taken the paper from Raven and looked over it. Other names were scribbled on it. Pearl finally found the one Raven had mentioned and squinted at it. Her handwriting was bad…

"Raven? I think the word was guri-n. It sounds like green."

"WHAT?!" Raven shouted and looked back at Pearl. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN?!"

"That's pretty bad if you can't even read you own handwriting…" Brendan muttered.

Raven shook her head. "It doesn't matter! I've decided on Guru-n and that's final!"

"Alright!" the old man said and clapped his hands. "An excellent name this is! Vastly original!"

"The old man's delusional…" Brendan whispered.


	17. Chapter Sixteen

A/N: I suppose I should explain why I have sudden random bursts of chapter adding... Sometimes, I'll just get into my writing mode and write chapter after chapter, non-stop. And... that's why.

* * *

Chapter Sixteen

Afterwards, Pearl and Brendan went off to look at the shops while Raven headed to a museum in Slateport, called… The Oceanic Museum.

However, a long line was in front of the entrance, stretching far back. The people all wore red and black outfits, so Raven assumed it must be something like a class field trip. Then again, these people looked too old to be in school…

"Hey, what's taking so long?" Raven asked the man in front of her in line.

The man looked back at her. "I don't know. Reminds me of when I'd like up to get video games as a kid, though…"

After five minutes had passed, Raven lost her temper. She hurried past everyone in line and ran into the museum.

"WHAT IS TAKING SO LONG?!"

"I…" a man began and started looking in his pockets. "I don't have enough money…"

"It's a 50 cent fee!" a woman behind him in line said. "How can you not have enough money?!"

"Well, I don't usually carry money around with me!" the man snapped.

"You're just stupid then!"

Raven sighed heavily.

---

Brendan soon remembered that he had something to deliver to someone in the shipyard of Slateport. So he hurried back to the Pokémon Center to get the package and ran off to the shipyard…

"Name's Dock!" a man said, looking at several blueprints lying on a table. "Captain Stern, he ain't here! Think he said he'd be at the museum. You go bring it to him, okay?"

"Sure," Brendan said and rolled his eyes. "Because, you know, I'm not doing anything important at all."

And so Brendan headed off to the museum. Entering it, he found that it was packed with people. People in black and red outfits. Brendan shook his head, trying to clear his mind of how they reminded him of Team Aqua and paid the fee to enter.

---

A rubber ball in a glass container was expanding and shrinking. Raven and her Pokémon watched it curiously as a man with glasses explained something about it.

"In the sea, the weight of water itself exerts pressure," the man said. "In shallow water, the pressure is not very heavy. However, in extremely deep water, the pressure can reach even tens of thousands of tons on a small area."

"That's weird…" Raven muttered. "This place is weird. Very weird."

The man laughed. "The sea is full of mysteries, Raven! It's not a wonder it seems weird!"

Raven nodded. "I guess so. So, Captain Stern, you said you were building a… submarine?"

Captain Stern, the man she was talking to, nodded. "That's right! I'm waiting for some parts I ordered from the Devon Corporation to arrive so I can continue building it…"

"Sorry, but we're going to be taking those parts!"

Raven and Captain Stern turned around to see two of the people from downstairs standing there with their arms crossed over their chests.

"But… I don't have the parts yet."

"Well, we'll just stay right next to you until they arrive! And then we'll take them!"

Raven slapped herself.

At this, Brendan walked upstairs to the floor of the museum where this was taking place. He calmly walked past the two people and walked up to Captain Stern.

"You must be Captain Stern, right?" Brendan asked and took a package out of his bag. "Here are some parts from the Devon Corporation I was asked to give to you…"

"GET THAT!" one of the men shouted. The other one dove clumsily forward to grab the package, which Brendan moved away from him. Captain Stern took the package and put it under his coat.

"Give us that package!" the other man shouted.

"Um… no," Brendan answered.

The man began pouting, which was oddly hilarious to Piplup and Cherrim. "Well why not!?"

"Because… it's not yours."

The men both looked at each other and shrugged. "The kid has a point."

"Well, guess we have to tell the boss that."

"Think he'll fire us?"

"Probably."

And the two men left.

"…That was ridiculous," Brendan said and shook his head.

"Well, anyways…" Captain Stern started and held his hand out to Brendan. "Thanks for delivering this. I'm Captain Stern."

"Brendan," Brendan said and shook his head. "And is Raven torturing you?"

Captain Stern looked confused. "Torturing? No, she seems quite interested in all the exhibits here."

Brendan raised an eyebrow. "Is that so? Wow Raven, that's a shock."

Raven snorted. "Whatever."

---

After checking out the museum a bit more, the two finally left. They were confronted, however, by an orange haired woman in a formal looking uniform.

"Excuse me, did you happen to talk to any of the red and black dressed people in the museum?" she asked.

"Yeah. Two of them tried to take some package I was delivering to Captain Stern," Brendan answered.

The woman nodded. "Just to inform you, those people are apart of Team Magma. A very criminal team whose trying to expand the world to land only! We need water on this planet too! Water's more important than land is! We need water to drink, bathe, to LIVE! You understand why this is bad?"

Raven shook her head. "I only understand that you're a crazy nut job."

The woman smacked herself. "Well, it doesn't matter! Just be aware of their presence, got it?!" The woman then began walking away.

"Man, we just attract weird people, don't we?" Brendan asked.


	18. Chapter Seventeen

A/N: I totally skipped the third gym battle. I'm lazy. XD All the Wattson fans out there (are there any?) can relax because he'll come back soon...

* * *

Chapter Seventeen

When Pearl was finally stopped from shopping, the three stopped momentarily at the Pokémon Center to heal their Pokémon, find out where to go next, etc. After they finished this, the three set out to Mauville City, north of Slateport and home of the third Pokémon Gym.

Once they arrived, both Brendan and Raven challenged Wattson, both of them also winning. Brendan had been hoping to enter a contest in Verdanturf Town, which was west of Mauville, only to find out that all contest were now being held in Lilycove City, far east of Hoenn.

Now they were heading north of Mauville City, hoping to reach Lavaridge Town soon.

---

Treecko sat down on the ground, rubbing his arms. Everyone else turned around to look at him in concern.

"You sure you're okay…?" Brendan asked.

Treecko nodded and got back up. "I said I'm fine! Just feeling a bit sore…"

Brendan nodded back at him. "If you say so. But if something's really wrong, you better tell us."

"Got it, Officer Brendan."

Pearl laughed. She then pointed up to a nearby building with cable cars going up to a mountain and coming back from it.

"There's Mt. Chimney! We'll need to get on a cable car to get there and then we'll be able to go to…" Pearl began explaining but was cut off as the others all began running ahead of her. "Stop running! Come on, listen to me!"

Running into the building, which was crowded with people, Brendan proceeded to get into the line with the people waiting to get on a cable car only to be grabbed by Pearl.

"Just wait a minute, alright?!" she said and shook her head.

Meanwhile, Raven wandered off somewhere, no one really paying attention to where she was going.

Within a few minutes, Brendan, Pearl, and all the Pokémon were able to get on a car and were now looking out the windows as the car went up to Mt. Chimney. Ash was falling from the sky and the higher they went, the more trees were ash covered.

"This is cool!" Piplup said in amazement. Both he and Cherrim were sitting on Guru-n's shoulders, so they could look out the window. (Since they were both too short to see it.) In the same way, Mudkip and Treecko sat on Brendan and Minun and Bellossom sat on Pearl.

Guru-n nodded. "It really is! Hey, sensei, don't you think so?" he asked and looked around. "Sensei?... Sensei?"

"What's it with you calling Raven 'sensei'?" Piplup asked.

"Um... No reason in particular," Guru-n muttered. "But, really, where is sensei?"

Everyone else looked around before they realized it.

"Aw, crap, we left Raven behind!" Brendan said and slapped his forehead. "Man, she's gonna be really angry... Quick, let's pull a disappearing act while we still have time!"

---

"Thought I was gonna die from not going to the bathroom!" Raven grumbled as she exited the girls' bathroom.

She then looked around the crowded place. She should be able to spot the others easily... after all, one had white hair while the other had light blue hair. Not very common hair colors but it is Hoenn, after all.

Raven narrowed her eyes. She didn't see them anywhere... Maybe she wasn't looking hard enough? No, that wasn't it...

"They left me. THEY. LEFT. ME."

"Yeah. It's sad, isn't it?" someone said.

Raven looked to her left. "What do you want, Nami?"

Sure enough, Nami was the person standing next to her, nodding to herself. "Oh, I just happened to be nearby, that's all. I saw you, looking so distressed and so I came to see what was wrong."

"I wasn't... distressed."

"Lies!" Nami said and grabbed her hand, dragging her off to where people were boarding the next cable car. She somehow fit herself and Raven among the group getting on and then... well, then they were off.

"This is too crowded for my liking," Raven complained, standing in a corner along with Nami.

"It's fine!" Nami said. "As long as we're accomplishing something, it's okay!"

Raven rolled her eyes. "Well, whatever."

The two stood there in silence, listening to what the other people (who still hadn't noticed the duo) were talking about. Boring things, like the weather and other things adults usually talked about.

"So..." Nami began. "Have you caught any Pokémon since the last time I saw you?!"

"No."

"Well, I did!"

"Do I care?"

"I caught a Vulpix and an Azurill! Say, did any of your Pokémon evolve?"

This time Raven didn't answer and simply decided to ignore her. Nami sighed and looked out the window.

---

Once the cable car reached the top of Mt. Chimney and everyone got off... Well, Raven began complaining. Complaining about anything and everything possible; the fact that it was hot, it was smoky, it smelt bad (Nami liked the smell... of whatever smelt bad.), that Nami wore too much orange, that she herself wore too much blue, that she was hungry... Well, you probably get the point.

"Welcome to Mt. Chimney! As I speak, it is an active volcano. The heat from the volcano warms the hot springs in Lavaridge Town and makes it a popular tourist town. Would you like a Lava Cookie?" a guide asked and explained.

"Sure!" Nami said happily. "Raven, you want a Lava Cookie?"

Raven didn't answer.

"Yep, she'd like one too!"

When the two finally decided to head to Lavaridge Town, they realized that they'd have to travel down a steep mountain, either on foot or bike. When Raven began complaining that walking on foot was too slow well… Nami got out a bicycle from who-knows-where and had Raven sit on the seat while she peddled.

"Hold on now!" Nami said in her usual happy voice and began peddling down the mountain.

Raven wished she would've continued walking.

---

"W-what's going to happen to sensei?!" Guru-n whined, sitting at a table in the diner area of the Pokémon Center, looking out the window and practically crying.

"Relax!" Brendan said and patted his head. "And seriously, don't cry. That really just looks weird."

Piplup was sitting on the table along with Cherrim, drinking something that looked like orange juice. Cherrim was spinning around on the table, holding a wand with sparkly pieces of paper on it while singing "She'll Be Coming Around The Mountain"

Guru-n sighed. "I won't cry. But… what if sensei doesn't get here?! What if she gets hurt or… or… She gets kidnapped!"

"One-" Brendan began and held up a finger. "She has radar and will track us down like the nut she is. Two-" He held up two fingers. "No one would ever kidnap her, even if she was the last thing available in this world to kidnap."

"You worry too much," Piplup said, reaching out and stopping Cherrim from further singing and spinning. "Really, you do. It's probably unhealthy."

All of a sudden, Minun and Bellossom came out of nowhere and were sitting next to Guru-n, causing him to scream like a little girl and cower under the table.

"What's up with him?" Minun asked and shook her head. "Anyways… who wants to go to the hot springs? Heck, I've been waiting to get here forever just because of it!"

Cherrim fell off the table, spinning the wand around. "I wanna go.~"

"Me too!" Piplup chimed in, looking over the table curiously at Cherrim.

"I-is there anything scary there?" Guru-n stammered, still under the table.

"No, there's not!" Bellossom answered, looking at him amusedly. "You should get out from under the table. It's dirty."

"Dirty?! N-NOOOOO!"

Brendan slapped himself. "I swear, you guys are all out of your minds."

---

Outside of the Pokémon Center (literally, right outside of the front doors), Treecko was sitting by himself, still rubbing his arms and looking like he was in pain. He looked up to see Raven and Nami walking over there and shook his head.

"About time she got here…"

"HEY! This is Brendan's Treecko, ain't it?!" Nami said loudly and ran over to him, bending down to look at him. "Then again, it might not be…"

Treecko looked away from her. "Go away. You're invading my bubble."

"Yep, that's Brendan's Treecko," Raven said and finally caught up with Nami, since she hadn't run over to Treecko like a Pachirisu on coffee. "Hey, where's Brendan and Pearl? I want to kill them."

Treecko pointed in the center. "Brendan's somewhere in the diner area. I haven't a single idea where Pearl is."

Nami tilted her head at him. "Hey, is something wrong with you? You look like you're in pain."

Treecko shrugged. "I dunno. I'm feeling a bit sore, that's all."

Nami then picked up Treecko, who began thrashing about and trying to get out of her grip. "Well, then… Why don't you go in the hot springs? They say it heals all your aches and pains!"

"Who's they?" Raven asked.

Nami looked around suspiciously. "Nobody knows," she whispered and ran inside the Pokémon Center, still holding Treecko. "Now, let's go!"

Raven shook her head and followed after her.

---

After Nami forced Raven to go hot springs in various demented ways, the two began heading to a part of the Pokémon Center that lead to the hot springs. However, when they got there, there was a group of people all standing around and complaining about something.

"Hey, what's going on?" Nami asked and tapped on the shoulder of a girl in front of her.

"I think they're saying that there's no hot water in the hot springs anymore!" the girl answered.

"So you mean… Now it's a cold springs?!"

At this, Nami began pushing her way through the crowd, dragging Raven along with her. When she finally got past everyone and saw the water, she ran to it and jumped in.

"Hey-!" a red haired girl began but was unable to stop Nami. "The water's cold, you know…"

Nami began screaming and jumped out of the water, crawling over to Raven and grabbing onto her legs. "I-it's cold!"

"Well, that was just stupid," Raven answered.

"Something must be wrong with the volcano," the red haired girl said and looked up at the mountain. "The heat from it should be heating the water, but it's not."

"Maybe he got sick of people only liking him for his heating abilities," Raven suggested. "And so, he quit."

The girl looked at Raven in confusion. "What're you talking about?"

"Nothing."

The girl sighed. "I don't know what to do…" she muttered and sat down on the ground, pulling at her hair. "I can't figure this out!"

Raven suddenly turned around and went back in the Pokémon Center, dragging along the cold and wet Nami.

"What're you doing?" Nami asked and finally let go of her as she walked into the room that she, Brendan, and Pearl were staying in.

"First, I'm changing my clothes…" Raven said and began searching through the room. "Because it's hot on Mt. Chimney."

"You're going to Mt. Chimney?!" Nami asked.

"Sure, why not?" Raven said. "I'm bored, so I'll just give myself something to do."

After Raven finished changing into different clothes that Nami hadn't a single clue where she got them from, she went to find her Pokémon and tell them what she was doing. Only Piplup and Guru-n were there when she found them, neither having a clue where Cherrim was. The two agreed to come along with her and they left the Center, Nami following them curiously.

"You want to use my bike?" Nami asked. "You can go back up the Jagged Pass… you know, the thing we rode down…"

Raven looked back at her with her usual blank expression. "No thanks. I can't ride it."

"Okay…" Nami said and watched as Raven, Piplup, and Guru-n headed into the Jagged Pass, attempting to climb up it. All of a sudden, something ran past her and landed by Raven.

Well, much to their surprise, it was Treecko.

"I'm coming along…" he said and climbed up onto Raven's shoulder.

"Um… okay then…" Raven said. "If you really want to…"

"Yeah, you have to be pretty crazy if you really want to come along," Piplup said. He expected Treecko to say something back to him, but to his surprise, he didn't say a thing.


	19. Chapter Eighteen

A/N: You know, Team Aqua and Team Magma have pretty lousy plans in the games as villains. They're like the least fearsome teams in all of Pokémon.

* * *

Chapter Eighteen

Little did anyone know that on top of Mt. Chimney, a fight had broken out among two teams; one dressed in blue and the other dressed in red. All of the tourists that had previously been on the mountain had disappeared, leaving only them.

Raven arrived to the top of the mountain, exhausted to the point of deciding to lie down on the ground to rest, her Pokémon joining her.

"Do you hear something?" Treecko asked, sitting on top of Raven.

"Yeah, I hear the sound of my stomach growling and wanting to eat you," Raven answered.

"No, not that kind of sound," Treecko answered and got off of her. "Sounds like fighting."

Piplup sighed and sat up. "You're right… It does sound like that."

Raven stood up and began walking off. "You guys, just stay there and do what Pokémon do. I'll go see what's up."

"We won't allow you to do this!" a red haired man shouted, a Poochyena standing in front of him.

Three men in black and white shirts stood a short distance from him, each of them having their own Poochyena in front of them.

"We totally will!" one of them shouted back. "Because we're awesome like that!"

Raven simply stood nearby, watching this group out of all the other groups of people fighting. Out of sheer curiosity, she walked over to them and tapped on the red haired man's shoulder.

"What the-?!" the man began and saw Raven. "You there! You have to help us out! Stop Team Aqua from filling this volcano with water!"

"And…what's the point of filling it with water?" Raven asked. "Ain't it just going to harden?"

The other three men all looked at each other. "Good point. What is the point of this?"

Raven looked behind herself and began making a sad attempt at whistling. Once she figured out that that wasn't going to work, she simply shouted.

"Guys, come on up here! I need your help!"

Piplup, Guru-n, and Treecko all hurried up to where she was, with Guru-n reaching her first and checking her over for injuries.

"Sensei, you're fine, right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. But listen, we've gotta stop some crazy people from filling the volcano with water."

"Won't that just harden it?" Piplup asked.

"I guess…"

"Quick, you have to stop them!" the man interrupted and Raven saluted, running off.

The three men all proceeded to try and chase her, only to trip and fall over each other.

"Hey you-!" one of the pirate-dressed people (Raven assumed that to be Team Aqua) and reached out to grab her shoulder. Much to this man's surprise, Guru-n lashed out at him, causing the man to fall backwards.

"Scary," Piplup said as he watched Guru-n knock the man over. "It's getting hot up here…"

"What's new?" Treecko grumbled.

All of a sudden, he stopped where he was and closed his eyes tightly. He then began glowing white and soon started changing shape. When he finally stopped glowing, he then looked more like a lizard than his previous gecko-like look. He had a leaf coming from the top of his head and leaves coming out of his wrists.

"He… He evolved!" Piplup shouted and jumped back from him.

Guru-n turned around to look at him. "He did?! Who did?!"

"I did," Treecko said and crossed his arms. "That'd be why I was so sore… By the way, I do believe I've evolved into Grovyle…"

"Is Brendan gonna kill me for this?" Raven asked.

"If he does, just bring up the fact that he did the same thing to Guru-n," Grovyle said and started running. "Now come on!"

Piplup screamed and began following him. "Oh yeah, _now_ you show energy and emotion!"

Farther up the mountain was a man with a mustache/beard thing wearing a blue bandana and a black jacket. He was standing in front of a machine, looking it overly carefully and pressing buttons on it.

Raven, being the dumb girl she was, walked directly up to the man and the machine and slammed her hand over several on the buttons. The man quickly grabbed Raven by her hair and threw her back.

"What do you think you're doing?!" the man asked, watching her stumble backwards and be caught by Guru-n.

"Uh…" Raven began and answered back. "What do you think you're doing?!"

The man grinned evilly. "Simple. I'm planning on stopping the volcano from being active. In this way, I will be able to increase the sea level and… what's the point of telling you? You won't understand a thing."

"So what?" Piplup shouted. "We won't let you… do what you're doing!"

The man's face quickly changed from an evil grin to a glare. "Who, just you? Do you think you can stop me?"

Grovyle stood up next to Piplup. "Not just him. Me as well."

"And uh…" Guru-n started and stumbled over to them. "Me too!"

Piplup nodded. "So, can you face all of us?!"

The man began laughing. "I'll do more than face you! I'll kill you!" At this he took three Poké Ball and threw them in the air. "Mightyena, Sharpedo, and Golbat will be more than enough to take out you three and your little trainer."

A black wolf-like Pokémon came out first, followed by what appeared to be half a shark (that also looked a bit like a torpedo), and a big blue bat Pokémon with a big mouth.

"Let's go, guys!" Grovyle said and ran towards the shark-like Pokémon.

"Right!"

Raven blinked in surprise, not noticing that her Pokémon were now fighting the man's Pokémon. She then watched as the man turned back to the machine, continuing doing whatever he was doing.

Piplup, Grovyle, and Guru-n quickly found themselves at a disadvantage against these Pokémon; not only did Guru-n's psychic attacks have no effect on the shark and wolf Pokémon, any time he or the other two would physically touch the shark, they would injure themselves.

Grovyle cursed under his breath. "Guru-n! Don't use psychic attacks on Mightyena or Sharpedo! They're dark types, so they're immune to it!" he commanded and looked down at Piplup. "Piplup, don't touch Sharpedo! His skin cuts anyone that touches him!"

"O-okay…" Piplup muttered. "Then… What about Golbat?"

Grovyle thought for a moment. "Nah, he's pathetic. Can't do anything."

"Hey!" Golbat shouted and made a sad face. "That's not nice! I can too do things!"

"You're letting those idiots' comments get to you?!" Mightyena snapped at him. "You _are_ pathetic!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Enough, both of you!" Sharpedo shouted. "We need to take out that Grovyle first. Then Gallade, and then we'll deal with the penguin guy."

All of a sudden, something began making noise and all six of them turned to where the machine was. It was beginning to glow brightly and was apparently the object causing the noise.

"Quick, one of you two!" Grovyle commanded. "I don't know any far range attacks, but you both do! Break the machine!"

"Got it!" Piplup said and took in a deep breath. He then shot out a blast of water at the machine, hitting it. The machine stopped making noises but continued glowing.

And, much to the surprise of the Pokémon, Raven was suddenly by the machine. The man was also in surprise, not noticing her ever getting near it, and pulled her hair, trying to get her away from it.

"W-what the-?!" Guru-n began and ran off over to the man and Raven. "Get your hands off of her!" he shouted and sliced the man's back, ripping his shirt and showing the injury that Guru-n just gave him.

He let go of Raven and spun around towards Guru-n. He quickly reached out and grabbed Guru-n's neck, choking him.

"He's choking him! Grovyle!" Piplup began and both he and Grovyle ran to help Guru-n out.

Raven stood up, jumping on the man's back and trying to pull his hands off Guru-n, Piplup and Grovyle doing the same.

"S-sensei, go and stop that machine!" Guru-n stammered. "I'm fine!"

Raven shook her head. "No, you're not!" she said. On instinct (like animal instinct rather than human instinct), she bit the man's arm, causing him to let go of Guru-n and throw her off his back.

Just then, the machine began firing a laser into the volcano. At this, both Piplup and Grovyle dove towards the machine and broke a glass dome on it, which had a rock inside of it. Oddly, the machine stopped firing the laser once the dome broke.

"Y-you little-!" the man began and hurried over to them. "You broke the machine!"

"You almost broke my friend's neck!" Piplup snapped back. Grovyle put Piplup on his shoulder and quickly moved away from the edge of the volcano.

The man sneered at Piplup before talking to someone who was apparently not there: "Well, this mission was a failure. Everyone, pull out!"

At this, all of Team Aqua immediately stopped what they were doing and all began leaving the area, either by running away or releasing flying Pokémon to get away on. The latter is what the man did. In less than a minute, all of them were gone.

Piplup sighed in relief and slid off Grovyle, lying on the ground. "Man, that was tough!"

Grovyle nodded and looked over to Guru-n sat, trying to catch his breath. "Guru-n, you okay?"

Guru-n nodded. He then looked over at Raven, who was simply sitting there looking up at the sky.

"Hey, did you stop them?"

All of them looked over to see the red haired man from before running over to them. "Yep," Raven answered and sighed.

"Great, thank you," the man said and looked over at the broken machine. "That meteorite…"

"What, this?" Piplup asked and ran over to take the rock off the machine.

The man nodded. "That meteorite was what was powering the machine. Breaking it must've been what stopped it."

"Well, it did start firing a laser…" Grovyle mumbled. "But we broke it then."

"I see…" the man said. "Anyways, I'm Maxie. I lead Team Magma and currently, we're trying to stop Team Aqua from turning our planet into a water-only planet!"

Raven gasped. "I can't swim!"

"Exactly!" Maxie said. "This is why we're working to stop them. Luckily, you were able to stop them from making this volcano inactive, so again, I thank you."

The four nodded and Maxie turned around to leave. "We'll be leaving then! There's a Pokémon Center nearby, so get healed up there! I don't have any medical supplies on me, sorry."

After he was out of sight, the four all grouped together and began leaving Mt. Chimney. Raven stopped momentarily and looked behind herself.

"Did you guys… hear or feel anything?"

"Like what?"

"Uh… nothing. Never mind."


	20. Chapter Nineteen

A/N: Nothing much to say about this chapter, other than that it's told completely from Flannery's point of view. Random, I know. But I wanted to do it.

* * *

Chapter Nineteen

"Flannery!" a young woman said and ran up to a red haired girl wearing a ponytail. "The hot water's come back!"

"It has?" the girl, Flannery, asked. "That's great! I didn't really know what to do about it though…"

The woman nodded and walked off. Flannery looked down at the ground and began walking away, mumbling to herself.

"This is really an impossible job for me…" she mumbled. "Since I'm Gym Leader, everyone always comes to me for problems and relies on me to fix things… But I don't even know how to do those things…"

By now she had reached the outskirts of Lavaridge Town. It was already nighttime and she knew it wasn't very smart to go out alone at night but… She then heard something coming down from the Jagged Pass nearby and, to her surprise, a little girl with three Pokémon came out and landed on the ground, coughing.

_Here's my chance!_ she thought and hurried over to the girl. "Little girl, are you okay?"

"I'm not little!" the girl snapped back. "I'll have you know I'm almost 13... I mean, I am 13! I am!"

Flannery looked the girl over. She didn't look like she was 13... Or almost 13, like she said first. She could easily pass off as maybe 9 or 10 but…

Either way, the girl and her Pokémon all looked exhausted. Flannery helped each of them stand up before blurting out a question.

"Um, what happened?"

"Up there!" the girl shouted and pointed in the direction of Mt. Chimney. "Crazy stuff was happening! Team Aqua… Lasers… Meteorites… A man with a combo beard and mustache! Even his sideburns connected to his beard!"

"Er…" Flannery began. "I'm sorry, I don't understand."

"Not a problem if you don't," one of the Pokémon, which Flannery believed was a Grovyle, said. Flannery hadn't a single clue what the other two were, but the penguin one looked pretty cute…

"Well, Lavaridge Town's famous for their hot springs!" Flannery continued, not quite sure where she was going with this conversation. "So, if you'd like, I'll show you where they are! It's really quite relaxing, so…"

"I've already been here before!" the girl snapped and began walking away. "In fact, I think I already talked to you. You said there must be something wrong with the volcano. So I went up there to look."

"O-oh…" Flannery said and started following her. "Well, um… I'll show you around Lavaridge Town, if you'd like!"

"No."

"Maybe we could battle together!"

"No."

"Are you hungry? I have a-"

"NO."

Flannery smiled weakly. This girl was hard to talk to…

"By the way…" the girl said and stopped. Her Pokémon continued walking ahead of her.

"I said I'm almost 13. Don't tell anyone that."

Flannery was confused. "Wait… I don't get it."

"My friends… everyone I know-!" the girl said and lowered her voice. "They all think I'm 13 years old! But I'm not! You, and my parents, are the only people who know that! Therefore, I don't want you to tell anyone!"

"What's the big deal though?" Flannery asked. "It's just one year…"

"You don't understand!" she said and shook her head. "My friends… If they knew I was 12, they'd treat me differently! Really! Like, they'd treat me like even more of a kid that they treat me now!"

"O-okay…" Flannery said. "Um… Your Pokémon, I think they're waiting for you!"

Sure enough, the girl's Pokémon were all waiting in front of the Pokémon Center, watching the two patiently. Except for the Grovyle, who was tapping his foot impatiently.

"Great…" she said and ran over to them. Flannery quickly began following, unsure of whether she should do so or not. Didn't really matter, since she was headed to the Pokémon Center anyways…

"Stop following me!" the girl snapped and looked back at Flannery.

"Well, I was headed to the Pokémon Center anyways…" Flannery said and lowered her head. "I'm going to the hot springs…"

"Well, I suppose I'll wait to take a bath until after I'm sure you're gone…" she mumbled and began walking away.

One of the Pokémon, a tall white and green Pokémon, turned around to look at Flannery. "Um… Sorry! Sensei's just like that sometimes… Maybe a lot of times. But she's nice, really!"

"Yeah," the penguin answered. "In her own special way."

And then they were gone. Flannery was really unsure what to think now. _I'm not quite sure what I'm unsure about. Wait… that didn't make any sense. Being unsure about being unsure? Yeah, that's sounds right… No, wait, it doesn't. Darn._

---

"I'm hopeless…" Flannery mumbled.

She was in one of the many hot springs of Lavaridge Town, trying to relax but failing to do so. To her surprise, no one else was in the same spring she was in. Guess that was good, because then she could talk to herself all she wanted and not have anyone interrupt her.

"HOPELESS!" she repeated and stuck her face under the water. Apparently forgetting she was underwater, she repeated it once more. "HOPE-blubblub…"

Flannery came back up from the water, coughing. "And I'm stupid too!" she groaned and slammed her head on the ground. "Ow…"

At this, she looked up. "Um… Is someone else here?" she asked.

"No!" someone answered.

Flannery frowned. Someone was playing games with her…

"I'm serious! Where are you?!"

"Nowhere! I told you no one's here!"

Flannery stood up and began walking towards the sound of the voice. "Stop playing around! It's not funny-"

At this, Flannery tripped over her own feet and fell underwater. _Who trips while they're underwater?!_

Flannery felt the edge of the hot spring and pulled herself out of the water. She saw that little girl from earlier was sitting on the ground, washing herself and a Pokémon; this one wasn't with her earlier and Flannery also didn't recognize it.

"It's… you!" Flannery said. "Why did you keep answering me with 'No one's here'?!"

"Oh, it wasn't me answering at all," the girl answered.

"Old McDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-OOOO! And on this farm she… She? Old McDonald's a woman!?" the Pokémon sang. "Say it isn't so! And on this farm she had a Natu and Dingo was his name-o! D-I-N-G-O! D-I-N-G-"

"Cherrim, wait, wait," the girl said to the little Pokémon. "I'm supposed to sing the Dingo part with you, remember?"

"Right, right…" the Pokémon said and nodded. "Ready?!"

"D-I-N-G-O!"

Flannery covered her ears and went back underwater. Thank goodness she couldn't hear them anymore… Well, actually, she could still hear little noises…

Oh. Wait. Something crashed. Now she could hear screaming… Something crashing yet again.

Flannery decided to what was going and came out from underwater, turning around to see what was happening.

A brown haired girl was hugging the other girl tightly, patting her head lovingly. The little Pokémon was playing in the puddle, singing off-key again.

"LET ME GO!" the little girl screamed and tried to get away from the other girl.

"But Raven, I love you!" the girl said back, not ceasing to let her go. "I really do! We should go get married and stuff!"

So Raven was the little girl's name…

"Um, you guys?" Flannery began nervously. The other girl let go of Raven, who scrambled away from her. "Could you guys please be a little quieter…?"

"Oh, right, right!" the other girl said and ran over to jump in the water. "Sorry!"

Flannery sighed, watching the girl as she started dancing around in the water gaily. She turned back to look at Raven; however, to her surprise, she had left. Now only her Pokémon was there, still singing off-key.

_Guess the little guy never runs out of breath…_ Flannery smiled to herself and sighed again, looking up at the stars in the sky and suddenly remembering something.

"I'M HOPELESS!" she shouted and dunked her head underwater again.


	21. Chapter Twenty

A/N: I am soooo lazy.... XD

* * *

Chapter Twenty

Raven sighed as she put her shirt back on. All hopes of bathing without being forced to due so had disappeared. Not only had she been followed on the way back from the Jagged Pass by a nut job, she was viciously attacked in the hot springs by Nami, who kept talking about them getting married.

Seeing as how her other Pokémon were gone along with Brendan and Pearl, she decided to leave the Pokémon Center and walk around.

She finally found a spot behind a store where no one was in sight and sat down, looking up at the sky.

"I wonder what Dawn, Jun, and Lucas are up too…?"

Raven shook her head. "Nah, I won't call them…" she mumbled. She then rubbed her eyes, feeling them start to sting. "Ow… Crap, got something… in my eye…"

She pulled her hands away from her face and looked down at the ground. "Who am I kidding… There's nothing in my eyes at all…"

And, for the first time in probably a long time, Raven started to cry.

---

"I wonder where sensei is…" Guru-n mumbled, laying down in the bed he was sharing with Piplup, Cherrim, and Raven. "It's bedtime…"

"Only you would say that," Grovyle said, climbing up in the top bunk of one of the two bunk beds in the room.

"Hey!" Mudkip whined, hopping off the bed he was going to sleep in with Brendan. "Why do you get your own bed?!"

"Because I'm bigger, that's why," Grovyle answered.

"Well, Guru-n's bigger than you!" Mudkip retorted.

"Here's something to both of you…" Brendan said, changing into pajamas. "All of you sleep in one bed. Raven sleeps on the bed Grovyle's trying to claim."

"NO FAIR!"

"Plenty fair."

"Yes, yes!" Pearl said, sitting on the top bunk of the other bed. "Now, let's go to bed!"

"But what about sensei?" Guru-n asked.

"She'll come back when she's ready," Pearl said and laid down. "Chances are, she'll be so loud we'll all wake up. Just relax."

"Fine…" Guru-n mumbled. Brendan went and turned out the lights. Cherrim was asleep almost as soon as the light went out while Piplup took a bit longer to fall asleep. Grovyle had gotten into the same bed as them and was laying as far away from them as possible.

---

Soon enough, Raven decided to head back to the Pokémon Center. After destroying all evidence that she had cried by going into one of the Pokémon Center's bathrooms and checking her face, she realized that it was almost 12:30 A.M.

Feeling that she might as well be nice for once, she headed back to her room quietly and equally quietly went entered the room. Seeing as how everyone was fast asleep and seeing that most of the Pokémon were occupying the bottom bunk, Raven clumsily climbed into the top bunk.

"Crap, can't sleep…" Raven muttered and looked up at the ceiling.

---

The alarm on the PokéNav began beeping. The first one to wake up because of it was Pearl, the very person who had set it. She got out of bed to go turn it off since it was laying down on a table in the room. That's when she noticed something a little odd.

Raven was sleeping in the bottom bed with all the other Pokémon.

Now, just what was odd about this? It would seem pretty normal, in a way. But Pearl did know, or at least could tell, that Raven didn't like being in close areas with other people or Pokémon for more than a minute. This was through the whole night.

Pearl grinned to herself and went over to where Brendan was sleeping in order to wake him up. Which involved her shaking him violently and when he didn't get up after that, she sat on him until he did.

"What is it?!" Brendan snapped and pushed her off of himself.

"Shh!" Pearl said and pointed over at Raven. Brendan looked at her and then back at Pearl.

"So what?! Can you just let me sleep?!"

"No way!" Pearl said and pulled him out of bed. "Come on, we have things to do! Important things!"

"Like what?"

"That's classified information."

---

When Raven finally woke up, she found Cherrim still sleeping next to her head. He was the only other one in the room than herself. She slowly sat up so she wouldn't wake him up, which failed because almost immediately after she moved, he jumped up excitedly.

"Good morning sensei!"

"Morning," Raven answered and froze. "Did you… just call me sensei?!"

"Yep!" Cherrim answered back to her. "I figured that since Guru-n calls you that, I'll also do it as well!"

Raven slapped herself. "Great, just freakin' great…"

Cherrim began jumping on the bed excitedly. "While you were sleeping, some red haired girl came over here asking for you. She said Nami had suggested that she have a battle with you and she wanted to know if you would!"

"Stupid Nami," Raven grumbled. "I'm no good at telling you guys how to fight. I suck at being a Pokémon Trainer…"

Cherrim tilted his head. "Sensei? Is something wrong with you?"

"What d'you mean?"

"Well, you don't seem very happy today… And you seem kind of sad, or depressed…"

Raven snorted. "When have I ever been happy, huh?"

Cherrim smiled at her. "I think you're always happy! It's different than how most people show it, but that's the way you are!"

Raven looked at Cherrim with a blank look before finally saying something.

"You're the first person… er, Pokémon to put it like that…"

Cherrim began laughing psychotically.

---

Flannery was standing outside of the Pokémon Center, talking with an old woman. She heard the doors of the center opening and she looked behind herself to see who was coming out. This was something she'd been doing all morning; every time she heard the door open, she looked to see who was going in or out.

This time, the person who came out was someone she'd been waiting for all morning; the little girl from the day before with the nasty attitude.

"Hi there!" Flannery said and ran up to her. "Remember me from yesterday? Well, this morning your friend Nami suggested that I battle against you! Oh, wait, I haven't introduced myself! My name's Flannery!"

Raven looked at her with her usual blank expression and nodded, not saying a word.

"Ah, so, you want to battle?" Flannery asked, getting a little uncomfortable with the way Raven acted. "Ahm, you see, I'm the Gym Leader of Lavaridge Town! Uh, usually I'd have challengers try to get through the maze in the gym but…"

"Raven."

"What?"

"My name's Raven," Raven said.

"Uh right!" Flannery said and nodded quickly. "Anyways, about the gym… Uh, I'll battle you right now, right out here if you'd like!"

Raven nodded silently. "Okay."

"Great!" Flannery said in a disturbingly happy way. "Three on three, how's that sound? The first person who has two Pokémon faint loses, okay?"

Raven nodded yet again. Flannery clapped her hands, still acting way too happy. "Okay! This'll be an official gym battle, so if I lose, I'll give you the badge, okay? Let's get started!"


	22. Chapter Twenty One: VS Flannery!

A/N: I suck at describing battles... Either way, Flannery nicknames her Pokémon. I just wanted to do that.

* * *

Chapter Twenty-One

In a matter of minutes, Flannery had gotten everyone to move out a bit so she and Raven could battle. No one really minded… in fact, they'd all begun to gather around to watch the battle.

Nearby, Brendan and Pearl walked out of a store and noticed the crowd beginning to form. Out of curiosity, Pearl went up to one of the people and asked what was going on.

"Oh, the Gym Leader of this town, Flannery, she's going to have a battle right out here!" the person answered. "Everyone's going to watch!"

"Weird," Brendan mumbled.

"Okay, let's get started!" Flannery shouted and took a Poké Ball off of her belt. "Go Slugma!"

Flannery pressed the button on the Poké Ball and released a red, slug-like Pokémon. She then proceeded to begin talking about it.

"This is one of my Slugma, her nickname's Sidney!" Flannery said proudly. "Who're you going to send out?"

"Uh…" Raven began and took one of her own Poké Balls, looking at it carefully. "I suppose… Piplup, let's just see what you can do!"

Raven sent out Piplup, earning lots of "What kind of Pokémon is that?" questions from the crowd, and even Flannery herself.

"This is Piplup," Raven said and held her hand out to him. "He's from Sinnoh, so that's probably why no one's knowing what he is."

Flannery nodded. "Okay then! Sidney, let's use Ember!"

The Slugma, or Sidney as Flannery had named it, inflated its cheeks and began spitting fire out at Piplup.

"Piplup! Use Bubblebeam!"

Piplup quickly shot bubbles from his mouth, each of which were apparently enough to make the flames go out.

"Sidney, Take Down!"

"And you… Do something!"

Piplup sighed to himself and ran towards Sidney, who was also running towards him. (Not really running, since Slugma was indeed a fire slug with no feet to run with.)

"I'd bet a thousand Cherrims that Raven doesn't know that I know this move," Piplup muttered and began spinning around in circles, causing a whirlpool to begin forming from who-knows-where.

Sidney stopped moving towards Piplup, staring at the whirlpool in horror before beginning to hurry back over to Flannery. As mentioned before, it had no feet, therefore hurrying back to her wasn't really accomplishing much.

And then the whirlpool crashed into the ground, soaking the entire area and all the people. Steam had then been blown everywhere, either because the whirlpool was hot or because the ground was hot.

The whirlpool had apparently been enough to knock Sidney unconscious, who was laying on the ground in a puddle of water and itself.

"Aw, crud…" Flannery mumbled and returned Sidney to its Poké Ball. "I shouldn't send out Lulu since she'll probably end the same as Sidney so… Okay, I suppose I'll go with Paris!"

Flannery then sent out her next Pokémon; another slug-like Pokémon, although this resembled more of a snail than a slug.

"This is Paris, my Magcargo! She's Sidney and Lulu's mother, and she's going to be harder to take out than Sidney was!"

Raven slapped herself. "She's really annoying with this introducing her Pokémon thing she's doing…"

Piplup looked back at Raven quickly and shook his head, looking back at Paris, who was glaring at him.

"Uh… she looks hungry…" Piplup stammered and backed away from her.

"Paris, use Fire Spin!" Flannery shouted.

Paris's cheeks inflated before she shot out a stream of fire, which wrapped itself around Piplup and began squeezing him tightly.

Raven's eyes widened as she watched Piplup be trapped by the fire. "Piplup… do something to get out of there!"

"Like I don't know that!" Piplup snapped. He then shut his eyes and thought for a moment before shooting bubbles out at Paris through a gap in the fire.

Much to Piplup's horror, Paris moved out of the way of the bubbles, and surprisingly quickly too. Her cheeks inflated again and she spat more fire at Piplup.

Piplup released he was beginning to be released by the fire squeezing him and saw this as an opportunity to begin making a whirlpool again. Once he began spinning fast enough, he was able to break free of the fire trapping him and started creating another whirlpool again.

"Uh oh!" Flannery cried. "Paris, tackle Piplup!"

Paris did as commanded and rushed over to Piplup, slamming into him and stopping his creation of the whirlpool.

"Darn!" Piplup muttered and tried to stop Paris from tackling him again, only to find that he was too small to even push her away. When Paris finally ceased her continuous attacking, Piplup quickly began digging a hole and hopped underground.

"Underground?" Flannery began and grinned. "Perfect! Paris, use Earthquake!"

Paris somehow jumped up from the ground and slammed down into it, causing the ground to begin shaking violently. Piplup shot out of the ground like a bullet, falling down near Raven.

"Piplup, you okay?" Raven asked as Piplup began standing up. "Can you battle anymore?!"

Piplup laughed. "I can, I can. I don't think I can take much more of it though…"

Raven frowned before suddenly gasping in surprise. "That's right! Torrent!"

"What?" Piplup asked and looked up at her in confusion.

"Roxanne taught me!" Raven said proudly. "Piplup, your special ability is Torrent! When your health gets below 30%, all of your water type moves get more powerful!"

Piplup nodded. "Didn't think that you would remember something like that! Then a water move I'll use…"

Piplup started making yet another whirlpool. Paris hurried over to him to stop him from doing so. However, Piplup decided to throw the whirlpool once Paris got close to him, covering the area with water again, just like before.

And, once again, steam was blown through the area. Instead of waiting for it to disappear, Piplup began creating another whirlpool, tossing it in the direction that he hoped Paris was in.

Flannery looked through the steam worriedly, wondering if Paris was still okay enough to keep up the battle. Once the steam cleared, she saw the result of the battle and smiled to herself.

"Good job Raven! You win!" she shouted.

Sure enough, Paris was unconscious and therefore unable to battle. Piplup himself was exhausted, leaning against Raven's leg for support.

"Okay!" Raven said happily and reached down to pick Piplup up. "Piplup, great job, buddy! We won!"

Piplup laughed sheepishly. "I guess we did, didn't we?"

Flannery walked over to Raven, reaching into her pocket and taking out a flame-shaped badge. "Here you go! The Lava Badge is all yours!"

Nearby, Brendan was grinning as he watched Raven take the badge from Flannery. He looked over at Pearl, who was wearing the same expression as he was.

"Well, I guess this means we're heading back to Petalburg City to battle against Norman, right?" Brendan asked. "After all, I got the badge yesterday while you and Raven were both gone…"

Pearl looked at him in surprise. "You did?! Why didn't you tell me?!"

Brendan shrugged. "Because I didn't want to, that's all. But anyways, I think Raven's really gotten to be a better trainer, right?"

Pearl grinned. "Both of you have. I haven't battled at all so I can't really say that I've gotten better… maybe I should try doing that, right?"

Brendan nodded. "Whatever you want to do, sis. Whatever you want to do…"


	23. Chapter Twenty Two

Chapter Twenty-Two

After defeating Flannery, the group all left Lavaridge Town, heading to Fallabor Town where they then headed to Meteor Falls. It was here that Mudkip evolved into Marshtomp. After they passed through there they ended up back in Rustboro City, where they began heading back to Petalburg City to face Norman, the fifth Gym Leader…

---

"HELLO ALL! YOUR NEWEST CHALLENGERS ARE HERE!"

At this, Raven forcefully opened the automatic gym doors. Norman was waiting in the main room patiently, his arms crossed over his chest. Brendan was standing next to Raven while Pearl stood behind them.

Norman grinned. "Nice to see you kids. Seems like just yesterday that Brendan was asking me to battle him and you, Raven, were just being you. Now, you guys all listened to me when I told you to get the-"

"First four badges?" Raven asked and took out a case, opening it up and presenting her badges. "Ain't it nice?! Pearl bought me a badge case!"

He nodded. "You thanked her, right? I know about you and your manner problems."

Raven stuck out her tongue. "Of course I thanked her!… I think."

Pearl began laughing. "It doesn't matter! You don't have to tell me anything!"

Norman blinked in surprise. "Wow… you guys seem a lot closer since the last time I saw you."

"Do we?" Brendan asked. "Because we aren't. Maybe Pearl's being nicer, but we're all still arguing with each other over every single thing."

"Is that so?" Norman asked. "Well, let me get things ready here, okay? I'd like you three to head back to Littleroot Town while you're at it. Birch wants to see Pearl and Brendan and Raven, Mom has something she'd like to give you."

The three nodded and began leaving the gym. Norman turned around and began heading into the gym.

---

"Long time, no see!" Professor Birch said, looking up from where he was sitting on the floor of his lab, looking through papers. A blue Pokémon with a lily pad on its head was sitting on his head while a yellow Pokémon with a huge black jaw thing hanging off of its head was sitting next to him.

"Um… hi, Dad!" Pearl said and waved to him. "What're you doing?"

Professor Birch looking back at all the papers on the floor. "Well, I was supposed to find this paper that I'm supposed to send out tomorrow but I can't find it…"

Pearl and Brendan both shrugged and sat down to help their father. "Raven, how about you go find out what your mom wants?" Brendan suggested and Raven nodded, leaving the lab.

---

"Welcome back, Raven!" Raven's mother, Robin, said and reached out to hug her. "My own little runaway child has finally come back! It's like a miracle! If your father hadn't told me not to punish you, I would!"

"...That's nice to know."

"Isn't it?" Robin said and the corner of her mouth twitched. "Anyways, wait here for a moment! I have something I'd like you to take."

Once her mother left the room, Raven let out Piplup, Cherrim, and Guru-n and went to sit on the couch in their living room.

"Wow, this is where you live?" Piplup asked, looking around. "It's nice here!"

Raven shrugged. "I barely even lived here a day before I listened to you and went off to Oldale Town."

"Is that your mother?" Cherrim asked, watching Robin come back from wherever she went. "Hi Mom!"

Robin blinked in surprise before noticing that Cherrim had been the one who'd talked to her. "Ah, hello. Anyways, Raven, this is what I'd like you to take."

She paused for a moment and shouted, "Chimecho! Come on over here!" A bluish-white Pokémon with a long tail and a yellow bell on its head came around the corner of somewhere in the house, heading over to them.

"Chaooo.~" it sang and smiled happily at them.

"This is Chimecho," Robin said and pointed at Chimecho. "I found her a couple of days ago when it got really windy outside. She was clinging to the front door of the house, trying not to get blown away."

"Hi there!" Cherrim said to her happily. Chimecho grinned and nodded to him.

"Hello.~"

"Raven, you're going to have this Pokémon!" her mother announced. "You don't have a choice, because that was an order."

"Darn."

"Keep me, keep me!" Chimecho sang and floated over to Raven, wrapping her tail around her head.

With a sigh, Raven shrugged. "Fine, I guess."

"Chaooo.~" Chimecho sang happily.

"Okay, we welcome you to our group, Chao!" Raven said and pulled Chimecho off of her head.

"Who?" Piplup asked in confusion.

"Chao," Raven repeated and pointed at Chimecho. "That's her name, 'cause she keeps saying that."

"Aren't you just a creative one…" Robin muttered and walked to the kitchen, Cherrim following her for some odd reason.

Chimecho, now known as "Chao", floated down to sit between Piplup and Guru-n. She looked at them both happily before stating this:

"Chaooo.~"

No, wait. That wasn't a statement.

---

Later on, Professor Birch, Brendan, Pearl, and Norman all came to their house to eat dinner together. Due to the fact that the table they had wasn't big enough, they had to push another table together to make it big enough.

The Pokémon were all sitting at a smaller table that was moved from the living room to the kitchen. Chao was introducing herself to Grovyle, Marshtomp, Minun, and Bellossom, all of whom seemed glad to meet her. (Minun and Bellossom were probably the happiest, knowing that they wouldn't be the only girls now.)

"I have a riddle!" Chao said happily. "What's green, has an evil look on its face, and has a leaf on its head?"

"I got this one!" Marshtomp shouted. "It's Grovyle!"

"Correct! Here's another one… what's evil looking, has a leaf on its head, and is green?"

Cherrim raised his hand. "Is it Grovyle?"

"That's right! What's green-"

"It's me," Grovyle sighed. "And I swear to Arceus, if you are constantly going to play riddle games," Grovyle began and pointed at Chao. "I'll kill you."

Chao began laughing hysterically, being joined by Cherrim and then Marshtomp.

"Here's a riddle for all of you," Robin said. "There's a picture of a Hoothoot on the wall, on top of Norman's head. Can you tell me which foot it's standing on?"

Everyone turned to look at a picture on the wall featuring a young Norman with a Hoothoot standing on his head.

"Its left foot!"

"No, duh, it's the right foot."

"Oh boy, this is going to be one fun dinner…" Norman said and laughed to himself.

---

Much like Norman said, it was a fun dinner. Well… actually, it depends on what you mean by fun. If listening to everyone arguing over which foot the Hoothoot was standing on while trying to eat sounds like fun, than fun it was.

"Jeez, this is what you guys all put up with every day…?" Norman asked, watching as Marshtomp and Cherrim ran in circles around Bellossom.

"Surprisingly, this isn't even half as bad as it gets," Brendan said.

"I can only imagine!" Birch said and started laughing. He then stopped abruptly and looked over at the three. "Say… I suppose you'll all stay home tonight and go to Petalburg City in the morning, right?"

"We guess."

"Then, I'll bring you to Petalburg City!" Birch shouted and jumped up from his seat. "In the Birchmobile!"

"NO!" Pearl, Brendan, and Norman all shouted. Raven and her mother continued eating food, not bothered at all by their outburst.

Birch began pouting. "Why not?"

"I hate that car!" Brendan snapped.

"You drive like your insane," Pearl added.

"I've seriously wondered what driving school you went to," Norman said.

"I went to the same driving school as you, Norman!"

"That's what scares me."

Apparently not caring what everyone else was talking about, Raven brought up a completely different subject.

"Dad, have you heard anything from Wally yet? Or about Wally?"

Norman tapped his chin for a few seconds. "Well, he went to go live in Verdanturf Town with his cousin the day after you helped him… I haven't heard anything else, no."

"Why didn't you go find his house while we were in Verdanturf Town?" Brendan asked.

"Because I forgot that's where he was going."

Brendan slapped his forehead and mumbled something about her stupidity.

All of a sudden, Birch stood up from his seat again. "Well, thanks for having us over, Norman and Robin! I've got to go back to my lab to look for those papers…"

"Oh, that was your name?" Brendan asked and looked over at Robin. "Hi Robin."

Robin nodded. "Yep. Feel free to call me Mom. It's my default name, apparently."

---

Raven sat down in her bed for the first time ever since they moved away. That reminded her about how the movers didn't get there when they did and instead must've arrived after she left.

Raven looked around her bedroom. Her mother must've arranged everything to be the way it was… a bed by the window, a bookshelf against one of the walls, and a desk in another corner of the room.

"For someone as stupid as you," Piplup began and ran over to the bookshelf, pulling out a book. "You have a lot of books."

It was true. She had a lot of books on the bookshelf. In fact, some books were even on the desk.

"Having a lot of books has nothing to do with how stupid I am," Raven answered. "Besides, all of them tell about things that could never happen, so it's not like I'd get smarter from reading them."

"Uh huh…" Piplup said, opening the book he picked out and reading it.

"Who's this?" Guru-n asked and picked up a photo sitting on the desk. Raven looked at it for a moment before answering.

"Me and my friends."

"Really?" Guru-n asked and looked at the photo again.

Chao wrapped her around Raven's head again. "Chaooo.~ Sleep time, right? You're sleepy, right? I am!"

Raven mumbled something about her wanting to sleep as well and went to a closet in her room, looking through it.

"I've only wore the same thing the entire time I've been traveling…"

"What?!" Piplup said and looked up from the book, which Cherrim had joined in on reading. "That's disgusting!"

"I washed it, you know."

"But still!"

Raven sighed and pulled out a shirt that was obviously much too big for her. She put it on and walked back over to her bed, getting into it.

Piplup looked up at her again. "You're going to sleep already?"

"I guess so…" Raven mumbled. Piplup, Cherrim, and Guru-n all hurried over to the bed, trying to find a spot to lay down on. Cherrim handed her the book he and Piplup were reading and tilted his head to the side.

"Will you read us the book, please?"

Raven sighed and opened it up. "Fine, I guess…"

"Woohoo!" Cherrim shouted and crawled under the blankets to sit next to her. Piplup sat next to Cherrim, Guru-n sat on Raven's other side, and Chao sat on the pillow, her tail still wrapped around Raven's head.

"Okay, I'll start from the beginning of the book. Um… Long, long ago… Oh great, a long, long ago story…"


	24. Chapter Twenty Three: VS Norman! I

A/N: Professor Birch's jeep has a name. The Birchmobile.

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Three

Raven woke up to find that the book she was reading was no longer in her hands, but instead lying on the desk in her room. She looked around herself to find that all her Pokémon were still there, fast asleep. She must've fallen asleep while reading the book…

Either way, she slowly got out of bed and left her room, heading downstairs to find her mother awake, watching the news. That was a sight she hadn't seen in a long time…

---

"Come on kids, jump in!" Professor Birch announced and pulled up to Raven's house where she, Pearl, Brendan, and all of their Pokémon stood. Professor Birch had arrived in a dark green jeep, where he had begun to pose in. To complete his odd look he was going for, he had a pair of sunglasses on.

"Screw that," Raven said and turned around, getting ready to walk back in her house.

"But…" Professor Birch began and pushed his sunglasses up his nose, which had never been falling down it. "It's the Birchmobile! Everyone wants to ride in it!"

"Today's our death day…" Pearl said and returned her Pokémon to their Poké Balls, slowly heading over to the jeep and getting in the front seat next to her father.

"I guess so…" Brendan muttered. Both he and Raven returned their Pokémon and slid into the back seats of the jeep.

"Buckle up kids!" Birch said and began revving up the car. "It's gonna be a wild ride!"

"I think I'm gonna be sick…" Raven said and put her seat belt on. "And we haven't even starting moving yet…"

---

Raven fell out the side of the Birchmobile once it stopped in front of the Petalburg Gym. She slowly began crawling away from the car, moaning and groaning. Brendan was hanging over the side of the jeep and Pearl looked like she had died.

"We're here!" Birch announced. "Was that a fun ride or what?"

"Why do you have a license?" Brendan said and opened the door of the jeep, falling onto the ground. "I think I lost my breakfast…"

Just then, the doors of the gym opened, signaling that someone was coming out. Raven, who was closest to whoever came out, looked up slowly.

"Come on kid! Stand up!"

Raven glared at the boy who had came out. He had green hair and wore a red themed outfit. Looking behind him, she saw other people there as well, all looking at them.

"Why should I?"

The boy pulled Raven up. "You're Leader Norman's kid, right? You're challenging us today, right?"

"Leave me alone…" Raven grumbled.

The boy began heading back into the gym. "Come in and face us whenever you're ready! Don't think we'll go easy on you 'cause you're the leader's kid!"

Raven stood there and waited until Brendan and Pearl recovered from riding in the Birchmobile. The three all headed into the gym, only to find that there were two doors there.

"You'll have to face the trainers in these rooms until you reach the back room where Leader Norman is!" a man standing there said. "Each room has a label on it… Like the "Speed Room" or the "Special Attack" room. For example, in the Speed Room, the trainer in there specializes in Pokémon that are speedy. Likewise, the Special Attack Room has a trainer that specializes in Pokémon that are strong in the special attack stat."

"I see…" Brendan said and ran up to the doors to read them. "Let's see… The left door says 'Attack Room' while the right door says 'Defense Room.' Raven, we'll both take different paths, okay? Which room do you-"

"Attack Room."

"Okay then…" Brendan mumbled and stood in front of the Defense Room. "Let's make this a race, okay?"

Raven nodded. "Loser has to ride in the Birchmobile back to Littleroot Town."

Brendan sighed. "I'll try not to lose then. Ready? Set?"

"GO!" Pearl shouted and the two began their race to see who could reach Norman first.

We feel needed to mention that Raven slammed into the door, realizing that she was supposed to open it herself.

---

Norman stood in the back room, patiently waiting for either Raven or Brendan to come into the room. He heard an explosion coming from the room on the left… Someone screaming like a girl from the room on the right.

And then the doors opened. Norman grinned, awaiting to see who would come first…

"What the heck?!"

"What're you doing here?!"

Both Raven and Brendan had run into the room at the same time and were now arguing with each other on who got there first. Norman guessed that they must've been racing from the way they were acting.

"Relax, you two," Norman said, waving his hands around. "Why're you fighting?"

"'Cause we have to know who gets to battle you first!" Raven said.

Norman grinned. "Well then, how about you both battle me together? You know, a double battle?"

"Is that legal?" Raven asked and Brendan slapped his forehead.

Norman took out two Poké Balls and tossed them in the air, letting out a rabbit-like Pokémon with orange spots all over it and a brown and white weasel looking Pokémon.

"Spinda and Linoone are my Pokémon. Now, you two, who'll you use?"

"Uh…" the two began and looked at each other momentarily before nodding at each other.

"Piplup, go!"

"Grovyle, you too!"

The two Pokémon came out and, seeing that they were teaming up with each other, both sighed and figured they'd have to deal with being together.

"Let's start!" Norman shouted. "Spinda, use Dizzy Punch! Linoone, Slash!"

"Grovyle, use Leaf Blade!" Brendan called.

"Piplup, Whirlpool!"

The four Pokémon all dove at each other quickly; Spinda beginning to punch at Grovyle, Grovyle moving out of the way and slashing at Linoone with the leafs on his arms. In turn, Linoone slashed at Grovyle's back.

And Piplup finished it off by slamming a whirlpool into the ground.

"Impressive…" Norman muttered. "Spinda and Linoone, repeat your moves!"

"Piplup, use Drill Peck!" Raven commanded.

"Grovyle, attack with him at the same! Use Leaf Blade!" Brendan added.

The two both went to attack Spinda, striking it at the same time. Spinda tumbled backwards, being stopped by Linoone, who then ran at Grovyle again.

"Guys! Attack again!" Brendan shouted.

Piplup and Grovyle both nodded and attacked Linoone at the same time. Linoone was still able to slash out at Grovyle yet again, however.

Finding that Spinda could no longer fight due to fainting, Norman returned it to its Poké Ball. He then sent out another Pokémon; a tall white and red monkey-like Pokémon.

"Raven, I'm sure you remember Vigoroth, don't you?"

"Unfortunately, I do," Raven answered. "He and I didn't get along very well…"

Brendan nudged Raven in the side with his elbow. "After Linoone faints, let's switch out our Pokémon," he whispered and Raven nodded in agreement.

Noticing the two whispering to each other, Norman quickly told his Pokémon to stay alert for anything they do.

"Grovyle, stand behind Piplup!" Brendan called out. "And you know what to do then!"

Grovyle nodded and hurried over to stand behind Piplup. Once he was there, Piplup began making another whirlpool, which he quickly threw at Linoone and Vigoroth. The two Pokémon both moved out of the way of the whirlpool, Linoone going to the left and Vigoroth going to the right.

However, it was then that the two Pokémon noticed that Grovyle had disappeared. All of a sudden, Grovyle came out of the whirlpool and began slashing at Linoone continuously before disappearing once again and ending up back over by Piplup.

Linoone was still standing, however, and was staggering around trying to look at Grovyle and Piplup. It then fell over, apparently unconscious.

Norman returned Linoone to its Poké Ball and looked up at the two curiously. "You two even have your own strategies when working together? Is that something you always do?"

Brendan and Raven both shrugged. "We guess so…"

Norman took out his next Poké Ball and threw it, releasing a large gorilla-like Pokémon that was lying on its side and scratching itself.

"Just to let you two know, Slaking is my last Pokémon. Beat him and Vigoroth and I'll give you both the Balance Badge."

Brendan and Raven looked at each quickly before returning Piplup and Grovyle to their Poké Balls. They then sent out their next Pokémon: Guru-n and… what looked like Marshtomp, but wasn't.


	25. Chapter Twenty Four: VS Norman! II

A/N: You know, not wanting to whine, but I wonder why this story only has one review? Is it honestly that bad that no one wants to read it...?

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Four

"Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the evolved form of my beloved Marshtomp… Swampert!" Brendan announced, holding his hand out to the Pokémon he had sent out and bowed. "He just evolved back in the other rooms…"

Swampert turned around to look at Brendan and Raven and grinned goofily. Guru-n, meanwhile, looked like he was about the faint from the sight of the two Pokémon in front of him. Then again, seeing a hyperactive monkey and a giant lazy-looking gorilla would probably be enough to make anyone faint.

"Well, shall we continue?" Norman asked and the two nodded eagerly. "All right then… Vigoroth, Slash! Slaking, Faint Attack!"

"Guru-n, use Psycho Cut!" Raven shouted.

"And Swampert, Take Down!"

---

Pearl returned her Pokémon, putting its Poké Ball back on her belt. She looked down at the boy whom she just battled, who apparently looked rather frightened by her appearance.

"You wouldn't have had this problem if you had just let me go by," Pearl said and looked at the door ahead. "That door leads to the Gym Leader's room, right?" The boy nodded and Pearl walked over to the door, opening it.

And was head butted by Raven.

"What the heck is wrong with you?!" Pearl snapped, pulling Raven off of her and making her stand up.

"I win!" Raven shouted. "You lose! Pearl has to ride in the Birchmobile!"

"Does she now?" Brendan asked. Pearl looked over to where he was, being given a badge by Norman.

"You guys won?!" Pearl asked in surprise.

"Yeah, too bad you were here to watch it!" Brendan said and began laughing. "What, you just like taking your time coming here?"

Pearl glared at him. "That's not it! I had to battle all the trainers back there 'cause they wouldn't let me by!"

Brendan covered his mouth and began laughing. "I bet you had a hard time doing that, huh?"

"No, I didn't, actually," Pearl said calmly. "Actually, I just had to go and… Oh, never mind about that! You guys won your battle!"

Norman smiled as he watched Pearl grab Raven's hands and begin jumping around. As he expected from Raven, she simply stood there watching Pearl.

"The three of you… what are your dreams?" Norman asked. The three all turned around to look at him curiously. "My dream… Hahaha… It's already come true, actually."

"It has?" Raven asked. "What was it?"

Pearl playfully tapped Raven on her head. "You dope," she said and shook her head. "It's so predictable that you wouldn't get it…"

"What is it?! Tell me!"

"Figure it out on your own."

Norman smiled once again. "All of you really have grown, haven't you…?"

---

"I'm so proud of you!" Robin cried, hugging her daughter tightly. "I'm sure that your father's going to be obsessing over his training since he probably wants to beat you!"

"Joy," Raven mumbled back. "It was a double battle, by the way. Brendan and I battled him together."

Robin let go of Raven and patted her head before heading over to Brendan and patting his head. "It doesn't matter! Good job to both of you!"

"Thanks," Brendan answered and began trying to flatten his hair. Robin proceeded to helping with his hair flattening, which appeared to only annoy Brendan.

"It looks like you inherited that white hair thing from your mother, right?" Robin asked.

"Um… what?"

"Your hair. It turned white by itself."

"Right…" Brendan said and pulled a piece of his hair. "It was black when I was little…"

At this, Raven ran over to him and began looking through his hair. "Are you serious?! It's not naturally white? What happened?"

"It just starting turning white one day," Brendan answered, stepping away from Raven and pushing her back.

Robin nodded and pointed at Pearl. "Yes, that's right! Your mother's hair was blue, like Pearl's, but then one day it started getting white in it… And then it turned all white!"

"Great," Raven said and rolled her eyes, only to have her eyes covered by Chao, who seemingly appeared out of nowhere. "Well, changing the subject, what should we do now?"

"Well, seeing as how we both already have five badges…" Brendan began and tapped his head. "I guess we might as well go and get the other ones to. So, the next gym would be in Fortree City, if I'm correct."

"All the houses there are up in trees!" Robin pointed out. "And there're no windows! So big bug Pokémon just fly into the houses whenever they want!"

"B-b-bugs?!" Raven began and shook her head. "Big deal! What's a couple of bug Pokémon gonna do?"

"You sounded scared there for a sec," Brendan said and Raven pretended she didn't hear him.

Robin had begun wandering around the house until she finally came back to them with a map. "Okay everyone! I suggest that you cross over the water on the route north of Oldale Town, which'll bring you a little north of Slateport City…"

"WHAT?!"

Robin looked up at them. "Yeah, it leads right to the route north of Slateport…"

"Crap…" Brendan whined. "I wish we would've known that earlier…"

"Anyways… to get to Fortree City, you'll need to go to Mauville City, go to the route east of there, cross over the river there… And then you'll have to go through the long route from there to reach Fortree!" Robin said, pointing to everywhere on the map as she said it. "The route to Fortree… It's almost always raining there, so…"

"Bring an umbrella?" Raven suggested.

"I'm not sure an umbrella would do much good…"

"Thank you so much Robin!" Pearl said happily. "We appreciate your help a lot!"

Robin smiled. "Not a problem! Before you leave, don't forget to check in with Birch. I think he's still looking for that paper…"


	26. Chapter Twenty Five

A/N: WATTSON'S RETURN!

Also, the girl Alanna in this chapter? She's from the Pokemon anime. The episode she was in was... A Poké-Block Party, I think.

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Five

After the three went to Professor Birch's lab and helped him find his paper (which Raven found laying in plain sight on a desk), they set out in the direction Robin had directed them to, only to end up taking a small detour when they reached Mauville City…

---

"What?!" Brendan shouted. "Let me get this straight… You have some place called 'New Mauville' and there's a generator there that's getting overheated and you want us to go shut it off?!"

The old man talking to them nodded. "That's right! It's really becoming quite a problem, as just last night there was a… shocking black out!" He then began laughing. "Get it? Shocking? Electricity?"

"Quick, let's run away while we still have time!" Raven whispered.

"No, we can't…" Brendan muttered and shook his head. "After a joke like that, we have to help him out."

"So you'll help out then?" he asked and reached into his pocket, taking out a key. "You'll need a key to get in. By the way, did you know that people often used electricity to clip birds' wings?"

Brendan shook his head and took the key. "Did they really, Wattson?"

"Yes, they did!" Wattson said and nodded. "So I need to say this as well… Raven, be wary of the electricity, or your wings will be clipped as well!"

"Make him stop the jokes… puns… Whatever they're called!" Raven hissed.

"Okay, we'll try to fix this as quick as possible!" Brendan continued and turned around, heading to the south area of Mauville City, Pearl following him.

"But I'm serious," Wattson said and pointed at Raven, who was still standing there. "Those wings sticking out at the back of your head… You don't want them clipped do you?"

"Are you talking about my hair?"

"No, that's not hair! Those are feathers!"

---

Raven was sitting out of the entrance to New Mauville, waiting for Brendan to open the doors to the place. As she was sitting outside, however, a girl with green hair in pigtails walked up to her.

"What do you want?" Raven asked.

"This place here… I've heard it's called New Mauville!"

"And?"

"You're going inside?"

"Yeah. There's a generator thing in there that's… overdoing something…"

"Could I come along?"

Raven looked back into the place, which had stairs going underground. "Brendan! Pearl! There's this girl out here who says she'd like to come along with us underground! Can she?"

After waiting for a quick moment, someone shouted back, "Sure!"

Raven looked back at the girl. "Sure, why not?"

The girl smiled. "Thanks so much! By the way, my name's Alanna!"

"I'm Raven," Raven mumbled. "Please, don't make any puns off of my name…"

"Hey, we've opened the doors!" Pearl shouted. Raven stood up and began heading downstairs, motioning for Alanna to follow her.

Once they got down to where Pearl and Brendan were, Alanna rushed into the place, looking around in awe.

"Wow! It's so cool here! It's almost like one of the Trick Master's puzzles!"

"Who's the girl?" Brendan asked.

"Uh, she said her name's Alan…"

Alanna spun around quickly. "My name's Alanna! Nice to meet you!"

"I'm Brendan and she's Pearl," Brendan said and began walking off into the underground area. "Now, let's find that generator…"

Brendan stopped, looking up at a blue wall that was in his way. "And… how are we supposed to get past this? Are we supposed to break it down?"

"What about this thing?" Raven asked and bent down to a blue button on the floor. "Should I press it?"

"You shouldn't press buttons if you don't know what they're for…" Pearl mumbled and Raven pressed the button. "Wait a sec, you just did what I said not to do!"

Once Raven pressed the button, however, the blue door opened up, leading to another room.

"I think I get this!" Alanna said and pointed at the button. "Pressing the blue button opens up the blue doors!"

"What, you mean there's more colored doors?!" Brendan asked and sighed. "Jeez, if I knew this was going to be such a problem I would've told Wattson to do it himself…"

Alanna ran into the other room, being followed by Raven. "See? There's a green door up here, so there must be a green button…" At this, Alanna suddenly screamed loudly.

Brendan and Pearl both began running after the two after hearing Alanna scream. Once they reached her and Raven, they saw that a floating metal thing with magnets on its sides and a screw on its head was floating around the two curiously.

"Oh, it's just a… Magnemite," Pearl said and sighed. "Scared me for a second there…"

"Um… Mr. Magnemite, could you please stop circling us?" Alanna asked.

Raven sighed and shook her head. "Now Alanna, that's not the correct way to do this… You have to do this!"

At this Raven grabbed the Magnemite and threw it at a nearby wall. "And that's how it's done!"

"Don't do that!" Brendan shouted and began shaking Raven around. "It's a Pokémon! Just like humans, you don't throw Pokémon into walls!"

"I hope it's okay…" Pearl mumbled and looked up at the green wall that was now in front of them. "So, it's a green wall, so we need to look for a green button?"

"Here's a green button!" Alanna said and ran over to a green button on the wall, pushing it and making the door open.

"Good job!" Pearl said and she, Alanna, Brendan, and Raven headed into the next room.

As the group made their way to the approaching blue wall in front of them, Brendan could be sure that he was hearing something be slammed against a wall. He assumed he was just hearing things until he decided to turn around…

And find Raven throwing a Magnemite into a wall again.

"WHAT DID I TELL YOU?!" Brendan shouted.

"It won't stop following me," Raven said and pointed at the Pokémon, who floated back over to her in a seemingly happy mood, despite just being thrown into a wall. "See?"

And Raven threw it into the wall again.

"Just ignore it then!" Brendan said and began walking away. "It's not doing anything to you, so stop throwing it!"

"Blue door!" Pearl shouted. "Find the blue button!"

Raven looked behind herself at the Magnemite following her still. "Stop following me!" she said and flicked the Pokémon in its head… er, body.

Brendan bent down and pressed a blue button that was lying under a box in the room. "What's with all this junk down here anyways?"

"I've heard that this place was created in case… Um, in case of overpopulation? Something like that… Either way, it's possible for people to live down here!" Alanna explained.

"I see…" Brendan said and looked over at Raven, who had just thrown the Magnemite again. "What did I tell you?!"

"I think he likes it…" Raven said, pointing at the Pokémon that came back to her, still acting happy.

"Come on already!" Pearl shouted from up ahead where she and Alanna were. "Stop being slow, you two!"

So the four (five if you included the Magnemite that was still following them) continued through New Mauville, finding the buttons and pressing them. The buttons kept appearing in more random places the farther they went… Underneath things on the floor, above the doors themselves, and Raven even found one up on the ceiling, which had required them to hold each other to get to it.

Finally, they reached the room with the generator in it. Like Wattson had said, it was indeed overheating itself, as it was making a low rumbling noise and having steam come out of it.

"I have this feeling that this is dangerous," Raven muttered.

"Really? What was your first clue?" Brendan asked.

"Um… the steam coming out of it?"

Brendan slapped himself and heard yet another noises of something hitting a wall. "Raven, I thought I said-"

"It wasn't me that time!" Raven said and waved her arms around. "Um… It just flew at the machine…"

Brendan looking at the machine, where there was indeed the Magnemite stuck to the machine. "Well, I guess it just likes electricity…" he said. However, looking closer, he could see that the Magnemite appeared to be in pain…

"Raven, go get that Magnemite!" Brendan shouted.

"But that machine…"

"It doesn't matter! Go get it!"

Raven made a face and slowly approached the machine, going over to the Magnemite stuck to it. "I… I can't reach him… He's up too high!"

"How do we turn this thing off?!" Brendan shouted and began running around the room. "Pearl, Alanna, help me!"

"Right!" the two both said and began hurrying around the room, moving things out of the way as they searched for something to turn the generator off. Meanwhile, Raven stood where she was, looking up at the Magnemite plainly.

Raven suddenly took out one of her Poké Balls and let out Guru-n. "Guru-n, give me a lift please!" she said.

Looking confused at first but still listening to her, Guru-n bent down and let Raven up on his shoulders. If Raven had been any shorter, she probably still wouldn't have been able to reach the Magnemite, but she was able to.

Grabbing onto its magnets, she began trying to pull it off the machine. Unfortunately, this didn't seem to work out so well as the Magnemite didn't move at all.

Alanna stopped throwing boxes around and looked back at the generator nervously. "Hey guys? You don't think… the off switch would be on the generator itself, do you?"

"Why didn't we think of that…?" Brendan asked and also looked at the generator. "Raven, do you see a button anywhere?"

Raven ignored him and continued pulling on the Magnemite, so Guru-n decided to answer for her.

"Um… I see a switch over there!" Guru-n said, trying to keep Raven on his shoulders and point in the direction of the switch at the same time.

"Got it!" Brendan said and hurried to the generator, going over to where Guru-n said the switch was. Finding the area where it was, he quickly discovered that it would be pretty much impossible for anyone to go and switch it off.

Well, for one thing, the entire back area of the generator was throwing electricity everywhere.

Oh, and the electricity was beginning to set things on fire.

"Okay then…" Brendan muttered and hurried back away from it. He took a Poké Ball and let out Swampert, telling him what to do almost immediately.

"We need you to go and switch off the generator! Electricity won't have any effect on you, okay?"

Swampert saluted and proceeded to going to the back of the generator. "This switch, right?" he asked and flipped the switch.

The generator stopped making noise and the entire area went into darkness. Magnemite finally became detached from the machine, causing Raven (who was still pulling on it) to fall backwards along with Guru-n.

No one else said anything, unless you counted Raven rolling around on the ground making noises. Finally, Swampert spoke.

"Did the power go out? Is that why it's dark?"

"I swear, sometimes not a single one of you has any common sense," Brendan said, slapping himself and shaking his head.


	27. Chapter Twenty Six

A/N: I think this is the shortest chapter I've written so far. I think.

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Six

The group returned to Mauville City, all ready to probably tell Wattson things that he should and shouldn't do.

Of course, when they found him, he was busy doing stand-up comedy for a green haired boy, who looked unsure on whether he should laugh at the jokes or not.

"Wattson!" Pearl shouted and hurried up to the old man, tapping on his shoulder. "Why the heck do you have something that dangerous underground?!"

Wattson turned around to look at Pearl. "Oh, you're all back! So, tell me, Raven's wings didn't get clipped, did they?"

"No, they didn't," Raven answered, still annoyed by simply being in the presence of Wattson.

"I see!" Wattson said and nodded. "You kids are all 'raven' to tell me the results, am I right?"

Raven's eye began twitching at Wattson's usage of her name in yet another joke of his.

"That thing was setting things on fire!" Pearl snapped. "Not to mention the electric Pokémon were getting stuck to that machine!"

"I'll need to do some work on it then, won't I?" Wattson said. "'Course, I can't make you kids do dangerous things and not reward you! Let's see, what should I give you?"

"I bet there are millions of people who get kids to do dangerous things and don't reward them," Raven said and shrugged. Alanna, who had still been following them, tapped on Raven's shoulder and pointed behind her.

Raven turned around to see that the Magnemite was still following her. Raven grabbed it and tossed it at a building, earning her various looks from everyone who witnessed it.

"Um… excuse me, Wattson?" the green haired boy who'd been talking to Wattson before started. "Didn't you tell me that two of your Pokémon had an egg together…?"

Wattson looked back at the boy and nodded. "Yes, but I was going to give the egg to you."

The boy shrugged. "Well, I'm probably not going to be able to go anywhere with the Pokémon… I think the Pokémon would like to see more of the world than just Verdanturf Town and Mauville City…"

Wattson started laughing and patted the boy on his back. "Leave it to Wally to try and help me think of things!"

"Oh!" Raven began and hit herself on the head. "I thought I recognized that kid… Wally! Remember me?"

Wally looked over at Raven and began smiling happily. "Hi Raven!"

"Wait, how do these two know each other?" Pearl asked Brendan, who shrugged.

Wally hurried over to Raven and hugged her tightly. "It seems like forever since I've seen you!"

"It's only been… About a week or two."

"Well, that's forever to me!" Wally continued. "Remember that Ralts you helped me catch? She evolved into a Kirlia! I also caught a Roselia too!"

Raven nodded to everything Wally said. "That's great."

Wally looked over at Brendan, Pearl, and Alanna. "Oh, sorry for not introducing myself! I'm Wally!"

"I'm Pearl!" Pearl said, smiling and waving at him. "This is Brendan and Alanna."

All while they were talking, Wattson had slowly begun to tiptoe away from them and off to somewhere. Sadly, his disappearing act was caught by Raven, who had been watching him the entire time.

"What're you doing?"

Wattson began laughing. "Me? Uh… I was going to go get that egg for you guys! Wait a moment, all right?"

Raven watched as Wattson began hurrying away before she muttered, "Liar."

---

Wattson handed Raven a yellow egg with a black zigzag crossing over it. Raven looked at the egg with her usual blank expression before realizing in horror that Wattson was now going to make a joke off of her name and the egg.

"The raven finally laid an egg!"

"I KNEW IT!" Raven screamed. "I KNEW YOU WERE GOING TO SAY THAT!"

"You should've seen it coming," Brendan said and shrugged. "Any idea what Pokémon it is?"

"Let's see…" Wattson began and tapped his chin. "It may possibly be the outcome of two Pokémon!"

Brendan slapped himself. "No, that's not what I… Never mind."

"Anyways, it was nice to meet you Wally!" Pearl said happily. She then turned around to face Alanna. "And it was nice to meet you as well Alanna! If you hadn't come along, I probably would've killed the other two out of sheer anger."

Alanna shook her head. "No, thank you for letting me come along! I had a fun time with you guys!"

"Oh yeah!" Pearl said, apparently remembering something. "Do you two have PokéNavs? If you do, could you tell me the numbers…?"

"I knew you'd lay an egg eventually Raven!" Wattson said and began laughing. "So, who's the father? There's gotta be one!"

"There's no father!" Raven snapped. "There doesn't have to be one either! It can be a product of-!"

Brendan covered his ears. "I don't want to hear it! Don't say it!"

"Magnemite.~"

Brendan looked over to see the very same Magnemite that'd been following them earlier. Still there, still following them.

"What, you want to come along with us?" Brendan asked and the Pokémon nodded eagerly. "Even after Raven threw you at least a million times?" Yet again it nodded.

"Raven! This Pokémon wants to come along with you!"

Raven turned around to look at Brendan and the Magnemite. "What?!"

Brendan shook his head and walked over to Raven, bringing the Magnemite with him. "This Magnemite. It wants to come along with us."

"Then you catch it!"

"It wants you to be the one to catch it."

"Hello?!" Raven snapped and held up the egg. "I just laid an egg, thank you!"

"Don't drop the egg…" Pearl muttered. "Really. I don't know what'd I do if you did something stupid like that."

Raven stuck her tongue out. "Fine, I'll catch the… Magnetite."

"Magnemite."

"Whatever. Give me a Poké Ball!"

Brendan sighed, shaking his head and taking a Poké Ball out of his pocket. "Shouldn't you be carrying these kind of things around with yourself?"

"But that's why I'm with you guys. To suck off everything you have."

Brendan pretended to not hear what she said as Raven took the Poké Ball and tapped Magnemite with it. The ball opened up and pulled Magnemite inside.

"There, happy now?" Raven asked. "Now that we've been stalling for who-knows-how-long, can we just get to going to Fortree City?"

"Oh, that's right…" Pearl said thoughtfully. "That was where we were going, wasn't it?"

"Going to face Winona, eh?" Wattson asked. "She's a Flying-type trainer, so it should be a breeze for you guys… Get it? Flying? Breeze?"

"You know…" Alanna started. "Maybe you should get a joke book. 'Cause your jokes are pretty bad."


	28. Chapter Twenty Seven

A/N: Just for mentioning it, Route 119 is my favorite route in the games. XD

...And random age and birthday discussion. Also, POKEMON RANGERS!

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Seven

A silver-haired man sat under a pile of leaves, underneath which was surprisingly dry despite the current downpour. He had out his own PokéNav, something he knew he probably shouldn't be using while it's raining, and was checking the map function on it.

"Fortree City seems really far away when this map shows it…" he mumbled. "I gotta get going to there soon for the meeting but…" He then put his head down on the ground, sighing.

"Just get the egg out from under your shirt!" a voice said. The man peeked up; he liked watching all the trainers who passed by him.

"It'll get wet and die then!"

"It won't die! Just put it in your bag or something! You look ridiculous with it!"

The man got an odd feeling that he recognized the three trainers passing by him. His suspicion was confirmed by the following line:

"Raven! Take it out!"

"Make me!"

The two trainers, a white haired boy and a black haired girl, began fighting with each other, the boy trying to get the girl to take out whatever she had under her shirt. The third trainer with them, a blue haired girl, was trying to break them apart from each other.

The man laughed quietly to himself as his PokéNav began ringing. He answered the call only to have someone yelling at him the moment he answered.

"Steven! Why aren't you here yet?"

"Sorry, sorry!" Steven said. "I just don't like the rain. I'll be there."

"I hope so! This isn't just one of those meetings where we all tell each other what we've been up to!" the girl answered and sighed. "It's important! So just get over here!"

Steven nodded. "I will. Once the rain stops."

"NO. You get here now!" she shouted. "Or I will personally come and find you myself!"

---

"Take it out!" Brendan snapped, struggling with Raven and trying to get her to take out the egg from underneath her shirt. Long story short… Raven saw it was raining, didn't want the egg to get wet, and therefore put it under her shirt.

Let's just say that looked ridiculous, something that bothered Brendan to no end.

"You two, quit fighting!" Pearl snapped and pulled them away from each other. "Brendan, it's just an egg under her shirt! Relax!"

"But…" Brendan began and pointed at the object under Raven's shirt. "Just look at it!"

Pearl sighed and shook her head. "Please, just stop! It's raining, we're all getting wet, and-" Pearl looked up to see that both Raven and Brendan had begun walking away, walking through the tall, wet grass. "Wait a second! Don't walk away while I'm talking!"

When Pearl finally caught up with them, the two had already reached where the tall grass ended abruptly. She grabbed the two by the back of their shirts and pulled them back so they were each next to her.

"Now, we're going to stay together as a group, got it?" she said, her voice becoming deeper in tone. "Let's go now, shall we?"

At this, Pearl started walking off, holding them by their arms as she walked. It was then that someone jumped out of the trees and landed in front of her.

"Halt in the name of all things as handsome as I!" he shouted.

"Oh no!" Raven shouted. "An egotistical monster!"

Pearl raised an eyebrow at the boy in front of them. He wore a black and red uniform and had a red headband crossing over his forehead, some of it covered by his dark blue hair. If memory served Pearl right… A Pokémon Ranger?

"Who the heck are you?!" Raven snapped, getting out of Pearl's grip. "And you are not handsome at all! Therefore, we don't have to stop!"

"Do you even have an interest in anyone…?" Brendan muttered and shook his head, ignoring his own question.

"I'm Lunick, a Pokémon Ranger!" he said and began striking a pose. "I'm here to alert all passerby on the possibility of mud slides!"

"That's great. Get out of our way." Surely enough, it was Raven who said that.

Lunick shook his head. "I'm not done talking yet! To ensure the safety of all civilians, we are required to escort you to your destination! Where are you headed?"

"Up your-"

Pearl slapped a hand over Raven's mouth before she could finish talking. She turned to face Lunick, smiling unsurely. "It's not that we mind but… Do we really need escorting?"

"Yeah, just look at how helpless you guys all are! Wait a moment, let me call in some other Rangers…"

"Was that a compliment?" Pearl asked and shook her head.

Lunick motioned for them to follow him as he began walking away. "Come on now! We'll be meeting up with the other Rangers on the bridge ahead!"

Pearl looked at both Raven and Brendan in confusion but began following the boy anyways.

In a few minutes, they reached the bridge Lunick had been talking about. Three other people, dressed in a similar way, were waiting there for him. The tallest of them, a blue haired girl with her hair in a ponytail, walked up to them as they came closer.

"My guess is that Lunick probably didn't explain anything to you, did he?"

The three shook their heads. The girl sighed and crossed her arms. "It's fine. He's just a little stupid, that's all. I'll explain it to you."

At this, a bright bolt of lightning flashed in the sky, quickly followed by loud thunder. For some odd reason, this caused Raven to scream and begin running across the bridge like a maniac, only to be stopped by one of the Rangers.

"Be careful!" he said, holding onto her arm tightly. "Last thing we need is for someone to fall off the bridge and drown."

Raven quickly recovered from her strange outburst of running and slapped his hand away. "Whatever! I'm fine, I can swim!"

"Sure you can…" Brendan muttered.

"Anyways, I'm not going to make everyone stand out here in the rain while I explain things!" the girl said and began walking across the bridge. "Further up ahead we have a secret base made, so we'll go in there, okay?"

"Anything's better than standing in this rain!" Pearl said and began following the girl as she walked across the bridge. "Seriously, anything is better."

---

The secret base that the girl had mentioned before was a cave in the side of one of the mountains. A laptop was set up in there, along with a table, chairs, and several other things that gave it the feeling of a house.

Pearl, Brendan, and Raven all released their Pokémon, who were all happy to be let out of their Poké Balls. At this, two squirrel Pokémon, a Minun, and another Pokémon that looked like Minun but was red, came out from under the table and ran over to the group of Pokémon excitedly.

"Those are our partner Pokémon," the girl explained, sitting down in a seat by the table. "The Pachirisu belong to Hajime and Hitomi." At this she motioned over to the other two Rangers there, a boy with short brown hair and a girl with light brown hair in pigtails. "Minun belongs to Lunick and Plusle belongs to me."

"Wait a second…" Raven said and quickly took a seat, the egg still under her shirt. "I've never heard of Pokémon Rangers. What do they do?"

"Let me explain that!" the boy, Hajime, said and sat down next to Raven. "Pokémon Rangers harness the power of certain Pokémon and utilize them to help defend nature!"

"That's stupid."

"I'm so sorry!" Pearl said and covered Raven's mouth. "This is Raven, and she's a bit of a brat. It's normal for her to say rude and mean things but that's no reason for her to say them!"

The girl laughed. "It's fine! My name's Solana. And you are?"

"I'm Pearl. And that's Brendan."

Brendan immediately began pouting. "Why don't I ever get to introduce myself?"

"Anyways, let me start explaining, if you don't mind," Solana said and began her explanation.

"Recently we've seen a large increase in the amount of rain falling, which has begun to cause frequent mud slides to occur. Just a few days ago some people nearly got killed from a mud slide, so we've seen it necessary to escort all people heading to and from Fortree.

"'Course, that's not all we're doing. We've heard that two criminal organizations, Team Aqua and Team Magma, have begun to make themselves known by stealing things and various other things. The Weather Institute up ahead has information on two Pokémon that they might be interested in, so we think that either of the teams might strike there next."

Raven raised her hand quickly. "What're the two Pokémon?"

Solana smiled nervously. "I'm sorry, we aren't allowed to give that kind of information out."

"No fair," Raven mumbled and started talking to herself.

"Well, that's why we're doing this," Solana said, apparently finishing up her talk. "So, let's wait a bit till the rain clears up a little bit and we'll head out. Until then…"

And Lunick was out of his seat, kneeling in front of Pearl. "Do me the honor of going on a date with me!"

"LUNICK!" Solana snapped, causing everyone to jump at her sudden loudness. "I TOLD YOU TO STOP DOING THAT TO EVERY GIRL YOU MEET!"

"I can't help it!" Lunick said and shrugged. "They're all so beautiful!"

Solana was apparently trying to calm herself down, and therefore changed the subject. "So, eh, you three are Pokémon Trainers?"

"That's right," Brendan answered, nodding quickly. "Well, Pearl doesn't really do anything so I guess she could be considered a traveler."

"Interesting…" Solana said and looked over at Hajime and Hitomi. "These two here are twins. How about you two say something?"

"Uh, well…" Hitomi began and started shifting around in her seat. "How old are you guys?"

"I'm 14!" Pearl said. "And just for the heck of it, my birthday's April 27!"

"13," Brendan said and pointed at himself. "My birthday's June 19..."

"I'm also 13," Raven mumbled. "And my birthday's on February 13."

"If you don't mind me telling my own age and birthday…" Solana began slowly. "I'm 16 and my birthday is September 16."

"I'm also 16," Lunick said, sitting back in his own seat. "My birthday is May 18."

"We're both 13!" Hajime said. "And our birthday's are on January 13!"

Brendan suddenly froze up, getting a look of horror on his face. "Wait a second… Now that I think about it… Raven's older than me?!"

Everyone turned to look at Raven, who merely glared at them all. They then looked over at Brendan and then back to Raven.

"She's tiny compared to you," Lunick said.

"Shut up!" Raven snapped and looked away from them all.

Breaking the short silence that followed, Solana stood up and looked around the base. Her eyes then narrowed as she looked at Lunick, who began bracing himself for whatever orders Solana decided to give him.

"Lunick!"

"Yes ma'am?"

"Go outside and get some water, will you?"

Lunick stood up from his chair, pointing at Solana. "Out in the rain?! I refuse to be treated like this any longer! I-"

"Lunick."

Lunick nodded silently and walked over somewhere and picked up a bucket and an empty canteen. He slowly began heading to the exit of the base, having a look of defeat upon his face.

"I'll do it."

Lunick looked behind himself to see that Raven was raising her hand in the air with a blank look on her face. "What?"

"I'll go get water."

Solana looked at Raven curiously. "Are you sure? You don't have to do that 'cause you feel bad for him."

"I don't feel bad for him. I'm just bored."

Raven went over to Lunick, taking the bucket and canteen and heading outside. Lunick was happily going back to sit down, obviously glad that he didn't have to go outside. Solana sighed and put her head in her hands.

When 15 minutes passed and Raven hadn't come back, Solana stood up and began hurrying outside. "Come on guys! I think something really bad is happening!"


	29. Chapter Twenty Eight

A/N: ...I don't like Team Aqua.

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Raven touched the side of her head, causing her to flinch at the pain that occurred when she did so. She opened her eyes slowly to find herself in a building with people moving around quickly. She appeared to be in a room of sorts, with an opening in the walls that made the room… well, a room.

"Stop this! What're you trying to do?!"

Raven looked over to her left to see a man in a lab coat sitting next to her, his fists clenched together. She looked in the direction he was yelling in, seeing a woman with curly orange hair standing in front of them with her arms crossed over her chest.

"I already told you and I'm not going to repeat it again! Just shut your big mouth or I'll make you shut it!"

The man hesitated before putting his hands back down at his sides, not ceasing to stop his glare at the woman. There were other people around him, all dressed in lab coats as well. Raven looked around at them all in confusion.

"Where am I?"

The woman looked back at her. "Shut your mouth! There's no point telling you!"

The man who'd been talking before moved over to whisper to Raven. "We're all at the Weather Institute right now. I suppose we're all being held as hostages in their little plan of theirs."

"But how'd I get here?" Raven asked.

"I don't know. A couple of these people came in here carrying you and that lady ordered them to put you back here with us."

Seeing as how Raven still looked confused, the man tried to think of a way to help her understand. "Team Aqua and Team Magma are both invading this building right now! I don't know if they suddenly joined forces or something, but they said they're looking for information on Kyogre and Groudon and their locations."

The woman looked back at them yet again. "Well, aren't you just the genius? Use that brain of yours and be quiet."

Raven narrowed her eyes at the woman, who turned back around to watch the other people hurry around the room. She went over to the woman, who didn't seem to notice her at all, and kicked her in the back of her legs.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?" she screamed and swung her arm back at Raven, hitting her in the head. Raven, however, didn't seem to have any response to the hit in the head and simply sat back down next to the man from before.

"Do you think that's funny?!" the woman shouted at her.

"Yes."

"Why you little-!" the woman started, walking towards her.

"Miss Shelly! I found the data!"

The woman, Shelly, turned around and hurried over to the member who'd said that; judging from the blue outfit they wore, they were apart of Team Aqua.

"It was stored in a folder that was password protected! I found the password out and opened the folder! Here it is, ma'am!"

"What was the password?"

"Weather Institute."

Raven looked over at the other hostages, who all appeared to be workers at the building. "That's a stupid password."

"Well, it was the only one we could agree on that we could remember."

"Okay, let's copy this onto a disk and we'll be out of here!" Shelly said, pushing the person out of the seat and sitting down. "But why'll we're at it… let's just check the current location of Kyogre, shall we?… Route 126 is Kyogre's current location, according to this thing."

"To be precise, its location is actually underwater," Raven said. "It's sleeping in the Seafloor Cavern although its current state suggests that it may wake up. Seafloor Cavern, like I said. First cave on the left and then into the right cave. Destroying the ground in the right cave leads you underground to where its sleeping. Although its highly recommended that you don't do that."

Everyone became silent and looked at Raven. Shelly was obviously becoming angry and stood up, going over to Raven and holding her up by her shirt. "How'd you do that?! The location you just gave is even more detailed than the one that data gave us! How the hell do you know where Kyogre is?!"

"What's Kyogre?!"

"Don't play dumb with me!"

"Hey!" one of the people shouted out. Judging by his outfit, he was a member of Team Magma. "How about you tell us the location of Groudon while you're at it?"

"Groudon is currently located at-" Raven began but her mouth was covered by one of the scientists, who pulled her away from Shelly and sat back on the ground.

"Keep on searching for anything useful!" Shelly ordered and all the members saluted and continued with their search.

"Are you out of your mind?!" one of the scientists hoarsely whispered to Raven. "Telling them the exact location?! Are you on their side or something?!"

"Exact location of what?" Raven asked.

At this, all the hostages looked over to a window that was visible only to them due to the wall separating them from Team Aqua and Magma. A woman with light purple hair was on the back of a flying Pokémon, trying to get their attention. Once she saw that she had, she motioned for them to back away from the window, which they all did.

The window broke inwards, glass scattering around the floor. The woman climbed in quickly, returned her Pokémon to its Poké Ball only to release it after she returned it.

The villains all stopped and turned around to face the woman, who stood there with a hand on her hip.

"Sorry, but your little plan's going to be stopped short. Now what are you going to do?"


	30. Chapter Twenty Nine

A/N: I tried my best to make this chapter semi-serious. And also to make the meeting sound meeting-like. *shot*

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Nine

"Who's she?" Raven whispered.

"You don't know?" one of the scientists asked. "Her name's Winona and she's the Gym Leader of Fortree City! She's a really awesome person and-"

"Enough. I don't want to hear it."

The woman was now having somewhat of a stare-down between her and Shelly. When shouting came from downstairs, Shelly looked behind herself at the Team Aqua and Magma members that were hurrying upstairs.

"Looks like you're not the only one trying to stop us."

"Of course I'm not," she answered. "The other Gym Leaders came with me. And while I hate pointing out the obvious, it looks like you're trapped."

"Is that so?" Shelly snapped back. "Everyone! Execute plan b immediately!"

"Like I didn't see that one coming," Winona mumbled. "Wattson! Start it now!"

Shelly sneered at her and sent out a tan bug-like Pokémon with green wings. "Vibrava! Break the roof!"

The Pokémon and began flapping its wings furiously at the ceiling, causing it to break. Much to their surprise, sparks of electricity began acting as a second roof above the one they just broke.

"Are you serious? You think you're going to stop us with an electric field?" Shelly asked. She motioned to her Pokémon, who flew up to the electricity and broke the field by head butting it.

Winona's eyes widened in shock. "Altaria, we need to stop them!" The light blue bird Pokémon that Winona had been flying on nodded and took in a breath before firing a laser at the Vibrava.

"Hey, what are you all waiting for?" Shelly snapped back at the other members, who all stood by silently with blank looks on their faces. "Help me!"

They all nodded and tossed their own Poké Balls; the Team Aqua members all let out Pokémon that were the same as Shelly's while the Team Magma members sent out dark blue and red bird Pokémon.

"Vibrava, use Sandstorm!" Shelly ordered.

Vibrava began flapping its wings once again, this time releasing sand from its wings. In a matter of the seconds the room was filled with sand flying around the room. Everyone else began covering their eyes from the sand and when it finally calmed down, both Team Aqua and Team Magma were gone.

"Darn it," Winona muttered. She shook her head and patted her Pokémon, Altaria, on its head. "Good job Altaria! You did a good job."

Winona then looked back at everyone who had been held hostage. "Is everyone okay?"

They all nodded and Winona sighed in relief. She then looked up at the broken ceiling, frowning. As she did so, others came upstairs; the Gym Leaders that Winona had mentioned and several other trainers.

"So, they got away, huh?"

Raven blinked in surprise at the person who said that, who was Roxanne. When Roxanne noticed she was looking at her, she frowned.

"Figures that you'd get yourself captured."

"I don't even know what happened!" Raven shouted, waving her arms around. "I don't know how they even got me!"

Thunder began rumbling and it suddenly began raining, although when exactly it had stopped was unknown. Since the roof was broken, the rain came down on them all.

"Never fear! Wattson's here!" the old man shouted and began laughing. "Let me go rein in those umbrellas to shield us from the rain! Get it? Rein, rain?"

---

Fortree City could perhaps be called the one of the most unique cities in all of Hoenn, if not _the_ most unique city. Trees were everywhere, and people lived in tree houses. Ladders were placed along the trees so people could get up there and bridges formed walkways between the trees. Some buildings weren't up in the trees; namely, the Pokémon Center, which was probably the only building on the ground.

"Everyone, please stay at the Pokémon Center until we decide on what to do!" Winona ordered. She was mainly talking to the scientists who'd been held hostage, who all nodded. Winona began to leave the Pokémon Center with the other Gym Leaders in tow only to stop and turn around.

She pointed at Raven, Brendan, and Pearl. "I'd like all of you to come along with us as well, if you don't mind."

Brendan and Pearl shook their heads and began following the Gym Leaders while Raven pretended she hadn't heard Winona and began walking in the other direction.

"She said to come along," Roxanne said and grabbed the back of her shirt, dragging her along with the group.

"But-!" Raven began, looking up at the top of trees outside. "Do we… have to go up there?"

"Well, yeah. Why, is something wrong?" Roxanne asked. When Raven didn't answer, she began thinking of a possible reason why she was asking that. "Are you… afraid of heights?"

"I am not."

"Liar," Roxanne said. "Hey, Brawly. I can't hold her and get up there at the same time. Can you do it?"

Brawly turned around with a confused expression on his face. "What? She doesn't want to?"

Roxanne nodded as Brawly walked over to Raven, who was trying to run away, and picked her up, holding her over his shoulder. "Let's go everyone!"

"Put me down!" Raven screamed.

---

The building that they were heading to was a round shaped building built around the trunk of a large tree. At least, that's how it looked on the outside. On the inside, no sign of the trunk which the building was built around was seen. A table sat in the middle of the room, other people already sitting at it and talking with each other.

Brawly placed Raven down on the ground, who looked as though someone had tried to kill her. She slowly got up and sat down in a seat next to a yellow haired kid with a straw hat on.

"It appears that everyone's present…" Winona said, looking around the room full of people. "Or am I wrong?"

"All of the Gym Leaders are here," Roxanne noted, writing down on a clipboard. "Well, except for Juan… As for all the other trainers here, I don't know how many were supposed to come."

Winona shook her head. "Fine. I suppose we'll start now. Everyone!" Everyone stopped talking and looked to the head of the table, where Winona was standing. Seeing as how she had everyone's attention, she began talking.

"First off, Steven!" she started and looked over to the silver haired Pokémon trainer, who awaited whatever she had to tell him. "Wallace will be stepping down from his position of Pokémon League Champion to take the role of Sootopolis Gym Leader. Therefore, you'll take his place."

Steven nodded. "Understood."

One of the trainers there raised his hand. "Um, what about the Gym Leader who was already there?"

Winona grimaced. "No one's seen Juan for 2 months. We need someone to be a temporary Gym Leader until he comes back."

Everyone began muttering among themselves before Winona continued. "As for all the trainer's here right now… All of you have had encounters with Team Aqua or Magma, correct?"

"Yes ma'am!"

"Well, if it's not too much trouble, could you tell us what happened during those encounters?"

Raven raised her hand quickly. "Um… On Mt. Chimney, Team Aqua was trying to make the volcano… uh, I don't know… Stop?"

"What?!" Flannery exclaimed and looked over at Raven. "They were trying to make the volcano inactive?!"

"Yeah."

Flannery looked down at the table with a worried expression. "That must've been why the water had been getting cold… And I didn't even notice it…" At this, Flannery hit her head on the table. "I'M HOPELESS!"

"Flannery, you aren't hopeless," Winona said and looked over at Raven. "Did they succeed?"

"Well, it started firing a laser but we broke it while it was doing that…" Raven muttered.

Winona nodded. "Anyone else?"

The yellow haired kid next to Raven raised his hand. "Um, I was at Meteor Falls when I saw Team Aqua as well! They were looking for a meteorite, I think."

"A meteorite!" Raven shouted. "That's what they were using to power the machine!"

"Please stop shouting," Winona said. "So they went to Meteor Falls to get a meteorite before heading to Mt. Chimney to use it to stop the volcano?…"

"Team Aqua was also trying to steal a package from Devon Corporation!" Pearl added. "We stopped them before they got away and I think they were arrested…"

"Sounds like Team Aqua's the real villains here…" Winona mumbled. "Maybe Team Magma aren't villains at all since the only stories I'm hearing right now are about Team Aqua…"

"That's not true!" another trainer shouted. "While I was at Slateport City, Team Magma were all at the museum there! From what I heard, they were trying to steal something from Captain Stern!"

"Yeah!" someone else added. "Over at Lilycove City they were trying to drain the water and stuff!"

Winona motioned for them to stop talking. "Now, why don't we all think about what these teams are trying to accomplish? I don't really know what they're doing at all…"

"Team Aqua's trying to make the entire planet water only!" Raven said. "I know that 'cause… some guy told me! He was at Mt. Chimney fighting against Team Aqua."

"…Team Magma?" Winona asked.

"Oh, yeah, that was it. Team Magma!" Raven said, nodding her head. "I can't swim, so a water-only planet would be bad!"

"Hey, a water-only planet doesn't sound too bad to me," Brawly said. "You could surf everywhere and stuff."

"Enough with you and your surfing needs," Roxanne said. "And I'm just gonna take a guess that Team Magma wants to make the planet land-only. So I guess they'd be rivals, wouldn't they?"

Winona nodded. "I guess so. But… over at the Weather Institute, they were both there and they seemed to be working together…" She then looked over at Raven, who was trying to draw things into the wooden table with her fingernails. "You were there, weren't you? Didn't they have you there with all the scientists?"

"Yeah. What of it?"

"Did you happen to know what they were looking for?"

Raven tapped her head for a moment. "Yeah. I think they said they were looking for data to find the locations of… Kyogre and Groudon?"

Winona's eyes widened in shock. "Kyogre and Groudon?!"

Everyone began talking at this. Well, except for Raven, who didn't have a clue what the two Pokémon were. "Excuse me, but what're Kyogre and Groudon?"

"Are you stupid?" Roxanne asked.

"Yes."

"I knew you were going to say that…" Roxanne sighed and shook her head. "Kyogre and Groudon are legendary Pokémon. It's said that Kyogre created the sea and that Groudon created the land."

Raven nodded. "I heard something similar to that when I lived in Sinnoh! Um… there was a Pokémon. And it… gave birth to two beings, which was what made time and space. From that same Pokémon, it made another three beings, which created… uh, spirit?"

Roxanne nodded. "I do believe that Kyogre and Groudon are also involved in that myth. If the five Pokémon together made time, space, and spirit, then Kyogre and Groudon created the land and sea. Pretty much, they made our planet."

"Don't forgot about the third Pokémon that stopped Kyogre and Groudon when they began fighting," Winona added. "It was Rayquaza that calmed them down."

"Maybe Rayquaza created the sky and the weather!" a trainer said and started laughing.

"But what about Mew? Where would it place in the story?"

"Duh! It's obviously the Pokémon that gave birth to the other five beings!"

"No way! It couldn't have been Mew!"

Winona held up her hand and everyone stopped talking. "Let's get back to what we were first talking about. Data on Kyogre and Groudon's locations was why the two attacked the Weather Institute. Now, if those two were to be woken up, it would go without a doubt that this region would be in danger."

"So what do we do?" Flannery asked nervously.

"The best thing to do now would be to get prepared," Winona stated. "We need to prepare for the worst. Wattson, that place called New Mauville that's built underground? I believe that that will play a major part in this. It could be used as a shelter, correct?"

"Not with generators causing fires it ain't…" Brendan mumbled.

"We also need to keep an eye out for any weather changes," Winona said. "For example, if it starts down pouring out of the blue, we need to be alerted. That would be a sign of Kyogre's presence. Likewise, bright sunlight would be a sign of Groudon's presence.

"We also have to prevent this from possibly happening at all. This means we'll have to get serious and try to stop these two before they find either of the Pokémon and wake them up. Everyone understand?"

"Yes ma'am!"

Winona remained silent for a moment, looking down at her hands before snapping out of her trance. "All right then. You may all leave. Please take one of these contact cards in case you find out anything." At this, she took out a stack of small cards. "I appreciate all of you coming here."

"Not like we had a choice, did we?" Raven muttered. She heard someone laugh and looked over in the direction of the yellow haired boy, who appeared to be laughing at what she said.

"Miss Winona?" Raven asked and began heading over in her direction. "Could we-"

"No."

"You didn't even know what I was gonna ask!"

"No, I did. You were going to ask to battle me because I'm a Gym Leader, weren't you?"

Raven looked away. "That's not what I was gonna ask!"

"Really? Then what were you going to ask?"

Raven looked down at the ground, not answering. Winona had had a blank expression on her face the entire time she had been having the meeting, and only changed it now to smile.

"I'm sorry. Maybe we could battle some other time?" she suggested. "May I suggest going to Lilycove City? That should entertain you for a while, at least until I'm ready to battle you."

"Fine…" Raven muttered.


	31. Chapter Thirty

A/N: The kid named Yellow in this chapter is the same Yellow from Pokemon Adventures. I really like her and wanted to have in the story so... VIOLA!

* * *

Chapter Thirty

Raven sat down outside of the Pokémon Center, holding onto her Pokémon egg, which Pearl had been taking care of while she had been gone. She also had out her PokéNav, looking at hesitantly before dialing a number on it.

"Hello?"

Raven sighed in relief at the person who answered. The dark blue haired girl on the screen smiled happily at her. "Raven! Hi!"

"Hey Dawn…" she muttered. Dawn looked at her curiously.

"It's about you call us on this thing. It really is a helpful thing though. So, how's it going? Just the other day Jun and I both beat Fantina! She's the Gym Leader of Hearthome City, remember? Oh, sorry, I'm talking too much! You say something!"

"Um…" Raven began slowly, stretching out the word. "I don't know what to say."

"Like, tell me about your Pokémon! Or how many Gym Leaders have you beaten? Your dad's one, right?"

"My Pokémon?" Raven asked. "Well, I have a Piplup, a Cherrim, a Gallade, a Chimecho, and a Magnemite… Also, I have a Pokémon egg too…"

"Wow, that's a lot!" Dawn exclaimed. "Do you know what Pokémon it is?"

Raven shook her head. Dawn shrugged. "No matter. Just earlier, Lucas and Aoi began doing this crazy dance with their Pokémon! Oh, that's right, you don't know who Aoi is. She's this girl that we met before we got to Oreburgh City. She decided that she wanted to come along with us so we let her!"

Raven nodded absentmindedly and listened as Dawn continued. "There's also this one lady, she's a really terrible person! Her name's Hunter J! Just like her name sounds, she hunts Pokémon and sells them for money!… Hey, are you listening?"

"Yes. I'm listening."

"Sorry, I'm talking too much again. You talk!"

"Uh… Just today I met some Pokémon Rangers, got held hostage at the Weather Institute, and had a discussion about the possible awakening of Kyogre and Groudon. How about you?"

"YOU GOT HELD HOSTAGE?!" Dawn screamed. "ARE YOU OKAY?!"

"Well, I'm still talking, so I guess I am," Raven answered.

Dawn frowned. "I wish you'd be more careful. You might get really hurt someday."

"I don't care."

"Are you getting along with everyone?" Dawn asked, apparently changing the subject. "You haven't killed anyone yet?"

"No, I haven't. And I don't like talking with people."

"Well, what about your friends? Brendan and Pearl, was that their names?"

"Yes."

"Dawn, what're you doing over there? Come on over here!"

Raven recognized that voice as Jun, another of her friends. Dawn said something to him and he screamed. In less than 5 seconds, he had tackled Dawn and taken the PokéNav from her.

"Yo! What's up Raven?!"

Raven waved to the blonde boy on the screen. "Hi Jun."

"Guess what? I got my fifth badge yesterday! How about you? How many badges do you have?"

"Five."

"Whoa, I started after you did and yet we both have the same amount of badges! That must mean I'm good or you're bad! I think I'm the one that's good!"

"…"

"My Chimchar evolved into Infernape! What about that Piplup of yours? Did he evolve yet?"

"No."

"What?! Do you even train your Pokémon?"

Raven didn't answer, causing Jun to frown. "Man, you're still as silent as ever. You gotta call us more, got it? Or I'll start calling you, and you know what happens when I start doing that!"

"Yeah. The phone bills shoot up like rockets."

"What?! There's a bill for this thing!? Crap, Raven, why didn't you tell me that?!"

"I was kidding."

"Yeah, you and your sick sense of humor!… Oh, hey, food? Lucas, save a spot for me!" Jun looked back at the screen, grinning widely. "Gotta go! Free all-you-can-eat buffet! See ya!"

And then he turned off the PokéNav. Raven sighed and stood up, holding the egg tightly as she headed back. She stopped as she thought she felt something move in the egg but merely ignored it.

The yellow haired boy from earlier was in the Pokémon Center and as soon as he saw Raven enter the room, he hurried over to her.

"Hi there!" he said cheerfully and grinned. Raven noticed that boy oddly looked like a cowboy with his straw hat, boots, and a bag tied around his waist. Raven nodded to the boy, who continued talking.

"My name's Yellow! Um, I was sitting next to you in that meeting earlier and I was thinking that you seem like a pretty nice person and I wanted to talk with you. So, uh… Is that a Pokémon egg?"

Raven looked down at her egg and nodded. "Yeah. I got it as a gift for… doing something. It wasn't really given to me in particular, but rather my friends and I. I guess I just wanted to take care of it."

"Hm…" Yellow began and looked at the egg closely. "Judging by the pattern on the egg, I think it's a Pikachu egg."

"Really?" Raven asked. "I didn't really know what Pokémon was in it."

Yellow smiled. "Well, that's just what I think! I don't know if that's really the Pokémon or not."

Raven nodded silently. "…My name's Raven."

"Nice to meet you!" he said and held his hand out. Raven placed the PokéNav on the egg and grabbed Yellow's hand.

At that, the egg began shaking violently, causing both of them to jump in surprise. The egg began glowing as well, almost like a heartbeat. "Uh… I think the egg's hatching!" Yellow said nervously.

Sure enough, pieces of the egg began falling to the ground. A pointy black thing poked out of the egg, followed by another one. It then fell out of Raven's arms only to be caught by both Raven and Yellow.

A tiny yellow Pokémon with light pink cheeks and black ears shook its head and looked up at Raven with a sleepy look on its face.

"…Pichu…"


	32. Chapter Thirty One

A/N: GOOD REGICE! :O

* * *

Chapter Thirty-One

The tiny Pokémon shook its head, pieces of the egg's shell falling out of its fur. Yellow and Raven both looked in surprise at the Pokémon, who looked up at Raven with a sleepy look.

"…Pichu…"

"…That's not a Pikachu," Raven said.

Yellow shook his head. "Yeah, that's a Pichu! It's the baby form of Pikachu!"

"And it hatched from the egg?"

"Yeah!"

"So who does it belong to?"

"You!"

"Lies. Do I look like I laid the egg?"

Yellow began laughing as the Pichu stumbled out of their arms and sat on the floor, looking around in a daze. It turned back around to look at Raven and the two looked at each other with no expression on their faces.

"Uh, we should probably go get Nurse Joy to check up on it!" Yellow said quickly. "You know, make sure there's nothing wrong with it."

Raven nodded and picked up the Pichu, who began squirming around in her arms. The two headed to where Nurse Joy was nearby, talking to a young trainer. As soon as the trainer hurried away, she looked up at them and smiled.

"How may I help you?"

"Um, this Pokémon here just hatched from an egg!" Yellow explained, pointing at Pichu. "We were wondering if you could do a checkup on it to make sure it's okay?"

Nurse Joy nodded and motioned for them to follow her into a room. Once they went in there, she asked Raven to place Pichu on a hospital-like bed in the middle of the room. She then took out a stethoscope and placed it on Pichu's back, moving it around.

"Right now I'm checking for breathing and heart problems," she explained and turned Pichu around, continuing with her checkup. She then placed the stethoscope on a nearby table, smiling. "So far, so good! No problems at all!"

"That's… good," Raven mumbled, watching as Nurse Joy picked Pichu up, looking it over. "Uh… what're you doing?"

"Checking for any abnormal body signs…" she answered, placing Pichu down on the bed. "I don't seen anything wrong, so the body checkup is complete!"

Yellow began clapping and Raven nodded, reaching out hesitantly to pat Pichu's head. "Uh…" Raven began slowly. "What gender is it?"

"A boy."

"Okay…" Raven muttered and picked Pichu up, holding it carefully in her arms. "Thank you."

Nurse Joy shook her head. "It's not a problem! I should be thanking you for caring about your Pokémon so much!"

Raven shrugged and she and Yellow left the room. Yellow hurried in front of her to get a better look at Pichu, smiling. "He's so cute!" he said happily. Raven tilted her head at his statement, getting an odd feeling about him.

"I should, um, go show him to my friends…" Raven said. Yellow nodded and followed Raven as she began looking for Brendan and Pearl.

---

"T-that sounds scary!" Guru-n stammered, listening to Brendan as he told them about the meeting they had earlier. He looked down at the ground, mumbling random things to himself.

"Scary? I think it's exciting!" Cherrim said loudly. "I wanna help! I wanna stop them! They. Are. EVIL!"

Brendan nodded. "Yep. But they're also pretty stupid, so it's not much of a problem."

"BRENDAN! HEY!"

Brendan sighed as he looked over his shoulder, seeing Raven and a yellow haired kid running over to them. He then looked down at the Pokémon in Raven's arms and got an uneasy feeling in his stomach…

"Don't tell me…" he began as soon as Raven reached them. "That… that's the Pokémon in the egg?"

"Hey, how'd you know?"

"WHAT?!" all the Pokémon yelled, jumping up and running over to Raven excited. Cherrim was the first to reach her, screaming to let her see him.

"He's a Pichu," she said and bent down so Cherrim could see him better.

Cherrim began making odd noises, reaching out to pat Pichu on his head. "Hi Pichu! My name's Cherrim!"

All the other Pokémon began introducing themselves. That is, with the exception of Grovyle, who looked as though he really didn't care. He probably didn't. Meanwhile, Brendan simply sat where he was, looking at the Pichu with a face of disbelieve.

"What's wrong, Bren?" Swampert asked, looking back at him.

"That Pichu…" Brendan began and pointed at him. "Its eyes…"

Swampert looked back at Pichu. "What about his eyes?"

"They have that evil lazy look like Raven's eyes do!"

"Good Regice, you're right!"

Grovyle was watching them all with one eye open, still showing no interest in the baby Pokémon. He instead looked over at the yellow haired kid. "Hey, you. What's your name?"

The kid looked around in confusion, realizing that Grovyle was talking to him. "My name's Yellow!"

"Huh…" Grovyle muttered and closed his open eye. "Interesting."

Raven began looking around curiously. "Hey, where's Pearl? I wanted to show her Pichu."

"I don't know," Brendan answered, still looking at the Pichu with the same look. "But… how… Why does it have…?"

"Why does it have what?"

"Its eyes… Why?"

Raven turned Pichu around and looked at him. "I don't see anything wrong with his eyes. What're you talking about?"

"Nothing. You're stupid and wouldn't understand it."

"Thank you."

Brendan shook his head and stood up quickly. "No matter. Since Winona isn't going to battle us, we might as well go to Lilycove City."

"You just want to go there because that's where the contests are," Grovyle muttered and Brendan looked at him in surprise.

"That's not why!"

"Yeah, right."

Brendan and Grovyle both started to glare at each other in silence. Yellow started laughing and Swampert began counting how long they were keeping their eyes open without blinking.

"Hey guys!~"

Raven and Yellow both looked behind themselves to see Pearl hurrying over to them. "Nurse Joy said that the Pokémon Center's gonna be really crowded tonight so I hurried up and got us a room! So-"

Pearl slowed down and stared at Pichu, who was still in Raven's arms. "Is… Is that…"

"It hatched!" Raven said loudly.

"S-so…" Pearl stammered and picked him up. "Cute…"

"Look at its eyes!" Brendan shouted.

"Ah, looks like Grovyle won the staring contest," Swampert said. "A whole 57 seconds!"

Pearl began hugging Pichu tightly, making noises as she did so. Yellow and Raven looked at each other as she did this, both probably wondering what she was doing.

"Um, excuse me…" Yellow said and began walking away. "I suppose I should go find somewhere to sleep."

"No, no! Please, stay with us!" Pearl shouted and grabbed him by his arm. "What's your name?"

"…Yellow…"

"Yellow, Yellow!" Pearl sang. "You can stay with us as long as you like!~"

"Do cute things change the way she acts?" Raven asked and Brendan nodded.

Yellow, however, was shaking his head. "No, no! I wouldn't want to impose on you guys…"

"Why?" Raven mumbled. "You already imposed on me."

Seeing as how Yellow was probably not going to be able to get away from them, he sighed and nodded. "Okay, I'll accept your offer."

"What offer?" Swampert asked and everyone else sighed, leaving Swampert to now ask everyone why they were sighing.

* * *

As much as I hate to ask this, please review! That is, if you're reading this at all. I don't know if this story is any good at all, actually... But whatever, I'll keep on doing it.


	33. Chapter Thirty Two: VS Winona!

A/N: Um... nothing much to say.

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Two

It was early the next morning as Raven sat in her bed, looking up at the top bunk where Yellow was asleep at. All of her own Pokémon had forced themselves into the same bed as Raven, although most of them were small so it wasn't a problem.

However, when it was nighttime yesterday, one of the Gym Leaders, Wallace, had grouped everyone who wasn't tired yet into the Pokémon Center's main room and began talking about anything and everything possible. He tried predicting whether someone was a regular trainer or a coordinator and had failed miserably.

Raven heard someone walking through the halls of the Pokémon Center and stopping in front of the door to their room. The door slowly began to open and Raven shut her eyes tightly, pretending to be asleep.

"I know you aren't sleeping," someone whispered.

Raven opened one eye and saw Winona standing over by her bed. "Why are you in here?!"

"I thought about your request to battle me," she said quietly. "I figured I might as well battle you now before I really do get busy."

"But why are you in here so early?!"

Winona ignored her question and grabbed her arm, pulling her out of bed. Raven forced herself to not make any noise as she did so.

---

Winona had brought them out to the route west of Fortree City, Route 119. Raven and all her Pokémon were yawning, all mumbling to each other why they had to get up so early.

"Are those all your Pokémon?" Winona asked.

"Um… yeah."

Winona nodded. "Six on six then. All six of your Pokémon against all six of my Pokémon."

"What?!" Raven asked slowly, apparently still not understanding what was going on.

"All of our Pokémon will be battling together. As a team. You understand?"

Raven nodded. "I guess. Well, guys… Let's do this."

Piplup, Cherrim, Guru-n, Chao, Magnemite, and Pichu all stood in front of her in a line, still yawning and trying to wake up. Winona tossed six Poké Balls into the air, letting out six Pokémon that all resembled birds.

"Raven… that was your name, wasn't it?" Winona asked. "Shall we begin?"

Raven nodded. "Okay! LET'S START!"

Despite being tired, Raven's Pokémon all began getting into their own battle stances. Winona's Pokémon all began flying in the air, circling around the group.

"Now, a lesson…" Winona mumbled. "Take note of your Pokémon's type weaknesses."

One of Winona's flickered before suddenly disappearing. In a quick moment it appeared behind Guru-n and struck him with its beak. Guru-n turned around and attempted to slash at it, only to have it disappear yet again.

"There!" Piplup shouted and climbed on Guru-n's shoulder. He took in a deep breath and shot out a blast of water at the Pokémon that had reappeared again near Guru-n.

All of a sudden, Piplup was picked up off of Guru-n and held high in the sky. He looked up to see another of Winona's Pokémon holding him tightly in its claws.

"Drill Peck!" Winona commanded. The same Pokémon that'd been attacking Guru-n attacked him once again, spinning quickly as it struck Guru-n. Guru-n was thrown backwards by it, laying on the ground motionlessly.

"Hey, Guru-n!" Raven shouted. "You okay?!"

Guru-n didn't respond. Raven sighed as she took out Guru-n's Poké Ball and returned him. Winona smiled slightly and waved her hand. "Skamory! Drill Peck again!"

The Pokémon screeched as it dove towards the group again. Magnemite went in front of the group, charging up electricity in its magnets and shooting it at Skamory.

Skamory dove out of the way of the electricity and dove beneath Magnemite, performing the same move as before and striking Cherrim. Chao quickly caught Cherrim in her tail, trying to keep him up as she watched Skamory fly back into the sky.

"Raven!" Chao called back at her. "Cherrim's unconscious too!"

"Are you kidding me!?" Raven asked, taking out Cherrim's Poké Ball and returning him.

"Genius, tell us what to do!" Piplup shouted from up in the sky.

"Right…" Raven mumbled. "Piplup, Hydro Pump! Chao, Grass Knot! Magnemite, Thunder Shock! And Pichu… Wait a sec, why am I letting Pichu battle?!"

All of Raven's Pokémon began attacking at the bird Pokémon simultaneously. The Pokémon holding Piplup tossed him in the direction of the attacks from Chao and Magnemite.

"Ah, no!" Piplup shouted and shot out water at the incoming attacks. The water stopped the vines that Chao had pulled out of the ground but Magnemite's attack went straight through the water, electrocuting Piplup.

"No, that's playing dirty!" Raven shouted as Piplup crashed to the ground. Surprisingly, he hadn't been knocked out by the electric attack and slowly stood up.

Winona stood there with a blank expression as she watched the battle. She waved her hand again and all of her Pokémon began diving down towards the group.

Vines began shooting out of the ground, trying to grab the bird Pokémon. However, their claws sliced the vines easily, not slowing them down at all.

"Grass Knot is useless against them…" Winona muttered.

Out of the blue, Pichu shot a small bolt of electricity at the Pokémon, hitting the group but not affecting them. The bird Pokémon all attacked Piplup, Chao, Magnemite, and Pichu at the same time. The four trying to get away from the group but only slammed into each other.

"Altaria, Whirlwind!" Winona called. One of her Pokémon, a blue one with white wings, began flapping its wings quickly, creating a tornado around Raven's Pokémon. Winona's other Pokémon all flew away from the growing tornado, which picked up the four remaining Pokémon and tossed them in the air.

"Now!" Winona shouted. "Everyone, Drill Peck!"

All of her Pokémon flew up into a group and dove towards the four Pokémon, who were all trying to grab onto one another as they began falling.

Winona's six Pokémon struck the group, slamming them into the ground quickly. Piplup, Chao, Magnemite, and Pichu all lied unconscious on the ground.

Raven looked at the ground as she took out their Poké Balls and returned them. Less than five minutes had passed and Winona had taken out all six of her Pokémon.

"As you can see, we obviously differ in strength," Winona said and motioned for Raven to follow her. "I'll have you know that Team Magma and Team Aqua are both much stronger than I am, so you won't stand a chance trying to beat them if you can't beat me."

Raven nodded silently as she hurried after Winona. Winona put a hand on her shoulder, causing Raven to look up at her.

"Don't think you're a bad trainer just because you lost," Winona said and looked ahead of them at the incoming Fortree City. "You and your Pokémon can become an amazing team if you keep trying. So do your best, okay?"

Raven nodded. After waiting a moment, she finally said something.

"What you just said sounds like something out of a cheesy shounen series."

"I know. I just realized that."

* * *

A/N: That's what I don't like about shounen series. They all have those super cheesy lines. :D Doesn't mean I don't like them though.


	34. Chapter Thirty Three

A/N: Lilycove City... I like it. Although it's not my favorite city but I still like it. Also, Guru-n is very unmanly.

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Three

"Here we are… Lilycove City!" Pearl announced loudly, spreading out her arms as they entered a large city. She then stopped, made a face, and looked behind herself.

"…I didn't think that'd we'd have a circus tagging along with us though," she muttered.

Besides Raven and Brendan, several others had come along with them to Lilycove City. There was Yellow, the four Pokémon Rangers that they'd met before Fortree City, and Roxanne (who said she was only following them because she needed to go to the store in Lilycove City), and the Pokémon Ranger's partner Pokémon. Raven and Brendan had also let out their Pokémon and Pearl's, making a grand total of 22.

"I'm so sorry…" Solana apologized, rubbing the back of her head and laughing slightly. "We didn't mean to come along with you, we've just been wanting to come here for a while but we never got off duty."

"No, no!" Pearl said and waved her hands around. "I don't mind! It's just that we were attracting a lot of attention and I didn't want to lose sight of anyone…"

Brendan started laughing. "Like you care about getting too much attention. You suck it up like a-"

"Shut up!" Pearl snapped. "Anyways, I'm going in the Pokémon Center to do some stuff. Brendan, Raven, please don't kill yourselves or anyone else while I'm not babysitting you, okay?"

The two nodded slowly and watched as Pearl walked into the Pokémon Center. Roxanne began walking away from the group, heading up a flight of stairs and presumably going to the store there.

"Well, if no one minds my leaving…" Lunick started slowly and began inching away from the group. "I think I'm going to do some sightseeing, you know?"

"Not alone, you're not," Solana muttered and began following him. "I know that your idea of 'sightseeing' is probably going around ogling at women."

"Why-! I would never do such a thing Solana!"

"Liar."

"I know."

Raven looked at Brendan in confusion. "What's… ogling?"

"Never mind," Brendan said and shook his head.

"I'll gladly tell you," Grovyle offered, much to Brendan's dislike. Raven bent down as Grovyle began whispering to her.

Raven then screamed and pointed at Lunick. "You're sick! Pervert!"

Lunick shrugged. "So? There's nothing wrong with it."

Hajime began shaking his head as Hitomi and Yellow both laughed nervously. Several of the other Pokémon were as equally confused as Raven was and Grovyle pulled them all into a group and began whispering to them.

"Uh, I'm going to, uh…" Brendan started and began walking away. "I'm going to the Lilycove Department Store! Because… it's just awesome like that!"

"We'll come with you!" everyone else (including Solana and Lunick) shouted.

Brendan sighed. "All right then, let's go!"

---

Piplup, Guru-n, and Grovyle sat at the roof of the department store, looking out at all of Lilycove. Raven was kicking a vending machine and several employees were trying to stop her.

"It's pretty, isn't it?" Guru-n asked.

"Don't say that out loud," Grovyle said. "It's quite unmanly of you."

"I'm not manly?"

Grovyle didn't answer. Guru-n frowned and looked over at Piplup. "I'm not manly?"

Piplup looked in the opposite direction and also didn't answer. Guru-n turned around to where Raven was now captured by the employees. "Sensei! Am I manly?"

Raven began laughing hysterically.

Guru-n frowned and continued looking out at Lilycove City. "…That's not funny."

"It's true," Grovyle muttered quietly. Piplup heard him and began laughing.

Raven suddenly came and flung herself over the ledge they were looking out from. The three all grabbed her before she suffered a terrible death and pulled her back onto the roof.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Grovyle shouted.

"Sorry. I was desperate to get away from those creeps," she answered, pointing at the employees who were now heading back downstairs.

"You scared me sensei!" Guru-n stammered. "I thought… I thought you might've died!"

"I thought me might've died too," Raven answered, patting Guru-n on his head. "Wait… aw, I'm messing up my sentences…"

At this, Swampert and Chao both came up to the rooftop area. Seeing them, Guru-n spun around towards them in excitement.

"You two! Am I manly?"

The two stopped and began walking downstairs.

---

Roxanne exited the department store, pushing back some of her hair. She'd completely forgotten to bring a flying Pokémon with her and now she'd have to go and call someone to bring her back to Rustboro City.

"Excuse me, miss?"

Roxanne looked up as a woman began running over to her. Seeing as how the woman seemed rather frightened, Roxanne decided that it must've been important. "Yes?"

The woman stopped to catch her breath. "At Mt. Pyre… These people… they came and…"

The woman started coughing heavily, falling to her knees and covering her mouth. Roxanne quickly bent down to help her. "What's wrong? Are you okay?!"

"They're…" she started but stopped as she continued coughing. Roxanne looked around quickly.

"Someone! I need someone's help!" she shouted. Several people began rushing over them, trying to help the woman. Roxanne stood up and began hurrying away from the group towards the direction of Mt. Pyre, which was south-west of Lilycove City.

Why was she getting a feeling that Team Aqua or Team Magma was there?


	35. Chapter Thirty Four

A/N: I didn't mean for this chapter to be so long. I was just writing away and when I finally finished it had filled up at least 8 pages on Microsoft Word. Heheh.

By the way, what sense is it to have two old people guard really important objects? O_o

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Four

"You mustn't take the Red and Blue Orbs!" an old woman begged, struggling to get up as she coughed. "Disaster will only strike if you do that!"

"No, no, you misunderstand," a man said, holding a blue orb in his hand. "We're only trying to help the planet, don't you understand?"

"We know who you are!" an old man shouted from where he lied on the ground. "We've been warned about the likes of you… Team Aqua and Team Magma!"

"Huh!" another man snorted. "Guess the elderly really are wise, aren't they?"

The old woman continued coughing, falling back on the ground. "You mustn't… You mustn't wake up those Pokémon!"

"Those Pokémon?" the other man said. "You wouldn't mean… Groudon and Kyogre, would you?"

The old woman didn't answer him due to her coughing becoming more severe. The two men looked at each other, each with a look of satisfaction on their faces.

"Well, Archie. Who would've imagined that by us working together, things could get this easy?"

"Well, it's only natural," Archie answered. "We should've done this from the beginning!"

The other man nodded. "Of course, letting two old people guard the Red and Blue Orbs wasn't a smart move. Did they really think that they could stop us?"

Archie laughed and looked back at the Team Aqua and Magma grunts surrounding the area. "All right everyone! Our work here is done, so let's leave before these elderly people can catch us!"

At that, all of them began laughing maniacally. The large group began heading down the long flight of stairs from where they were only to stop at the presence of a girl standing there.

"What do you think you're doing?!"

"Who is that?" Archie asked.

"I do believe that she's Roxanne, a Gym Leader," the other man responded.

Roxanne continued standing there, looking up at them with a glare. Archie started laughing yet again, shouting, "Do you think that you, one little girl, can take down all of us?"

Roxanne grimaced. She probably should've gotten some help first. Either way, she nodded. "I think I'll be more than enough to get rid of you idiots!"

"Maxie, should we kill her or leave her be?" Archie asked.

"I say we leave her be," Maxie answered. "Of course, we'll leave her with a little gift for getting in our way."

Suddenly something shot in front of Roxanne, releasing a dark gas. She quickly began trying to get rid of the gas by waving it away. Once it cleared, she saw that they were all gone.

"Crap!" Roxanne muttered. Hearing coughing at the top of the mountain, Roxanne hurried up there to see the two old people laying on the ground. "Are you okay?!"

"The Red and Blue Orbs…" the woman started slowly. "They took them…"

Roxanne's eyes widened in shock but she said nothing. Instead, she reached in her dress pocket and took out her own PokéNav, calling someone.

"This is Winona."

"Winona, we have an emergency!" Roxanne said quickly. "Team Aqua and Team Magma just came to Mt. Pyre and stole the Red and Blue Orbs!"

"What?!" Winona shouted. "Are you serious!?"

"Of course I'm serious!" Roxanne shouted back. "I came up here too late though… But there are people here who need medical attention immediately! So please-"

Roxanne stopped abruptly and began coughing. "Roxanne?!" Winona asked. "Are you okay?!"

"You breathed it in, didn't you?" the old man asked, reaching out to touch Roxanne's shoulder.

"I did…" Roxanne coughed and looked back at the PokéNav screen. "Sorry, Winona. Could you-"

"I'm on it!" Winona said and hung up. Roxanne put the PokéNav down and continued coughing.

---

Pearl grinned to herself as she placed four Poké Balls into her bag. She closed it up and looked over at the entrance of the Pokémon Center, where a woman was rushed in. She was coughing violently and, if Pearl saw correctly, blood was on her hand. Nurse Joy hurried over to the woman, shouting something to the Chansey that worked there, who all hurried to get a stretcher.

"What the…" Pearl began as she watched the scene. "What's going on?"

Pearl hurried over to the entrance of the Pokémon Center and left quickly, not wanting to see it any longer. As soon as she got outside, she looked around before deciding to head to the Lilycove Department Store.

"Welcome to the Lilycove Department Store!" a woman greeted. "We hope you find everything you need!" Pearl smiled at her and nodded.

"Let's see…" Pearl started and walked over to an elevator. "My guess is that some of them, if they went here, are probably at the rooftop…"

Meanwhile, at the rooftop, Raven was once again beating up the vending machines, this time with Swampert assisting her. Grovyle was doing what he does best; pretending they don't exist/pretending he doesn't know them.

Grovyle sighed as he continued looking out over Lilycove City. Despite his doing this to relax, it failed to work due to everything else going on behind him. He looked over to the right of the city and saw a mountain in the distance.

Then he something weird. It looked as though helicopters were flying away from the mountain. Grovyle looked around himself to see if anyone noticed this, only to see that, well, they weren't.

Seeing Cherrim by him, Grovyle poked him and pointed at the mountain. "Cherrim, do you see that?"

Cherrim looked over and nodded. "Yeah! The sky's so blue!"

"NO!" Grovyle snapped and turned his head in the direction of the mountain. "At the mountain! Look!"

"…"

"Do you see those things leaving it?"

"Yes."

Grovyle glared at the mountain. "Something's not right over there…"

"Stop worrying!" Cherrim said happily. "It's nothing! Trust me!"

Grovyle rolled his eyes. "You're the last one that I'd trust."

All of a sudden, Grovyle felt something cold being pressed against his face and he quickly pulled away from it, looking behind himself. Raven was holding out a can of something to him, which he eyed suspiciously.

"What is it?"

"Radioactive toxins with Wurmple particles. High in zinc."

Grovyle smirked at her and took the can. "I don't get how you come up with answers like that so quickly."

"I don't know how I do either," Raven answered and shrugged. "…I get a feeling that something bad is happening."

Grovyle nodded and looked back at the mountain. "So do I."

"Hey, you guys!"

Raven, Grovyle, and Cherrim looked over in the direction of the stairs, seeing Pearl coming up them. Once she reached them, she attempted to catch her breath.

"…The elevator wasn't working," Pearl said. "So I had to climb up here. Anyways… Over at the Pokémon Center!"

"What about it?" Raven asked.

"Some woman came in and she was coughing up stuff!" Pearl said. "It was really weird…"

"Oh please," Grovyle snorted. "I've seen weirder things in kid cartoons!"

"What kind of cartoons are _you_ watching?" Raven muttered and shook her head. "Whatever. I'm bored here."

Pearl sighed. "Yeah, you seem like the kind of person who'd get bored easily in a store."

---

Steven sighed as he looked up at the Lilycove Department Store. He, along with the other Gym Leaders, had been notified of what happened on Mt. Pyre. However, instead of helping out those who were really in trouble, he was told to find several trainers and convince them to go to Mossdeep City with him.

While he wasn't quite sure what the point of this was, Winona had told him that she wanted to make sure that the trainers she named did not find out about what was happening because they would only get themselves in danger.

Of course, the trainers he'd been asked to find happened to stick together in a group, so finding them each wouldn't be too hard. The names that Winona had told him? Raven, Brendan, Pearl, and another trainer named Yellow. Steven didn't know if this Yellow kid would be with them; he was told that Yellow had followed them to Lilycove City and that was all.

He hesitantly entered the store. He hated the feeling of having to do something like this. The only reason he'd been told to do it though was because his home was located in Mossdeep City and, therefore, he could have a reason to go there.

Steven began walking up the stairs in the store, wondering to himself why there weren't escalators or why he didn't head in the direction of the elevator. He soon found himself on the fourth floor of the store, which had dolls, mats, posters… basically things for decorating one's home or room.

"It's Steven!" someone shouted. Steven looked around for the source of the voice only to have a stuffed Pokémon doll thrown in his face. He then saw an employee of the store holding back a small girl from throwing more things at him.

"Miss, if you don't stop disturbing the other customers, we'll have you thrown out of the store!" the employee said angrily.

"Is that so?" the girl asked, getting an evil look on her face. "I dare you to-"

Out of mere instinct, Steven reached out and covered the girl's mouth. The employee looked up at him in surprise.

"Sir, do you know this girl…?"

"Um, yes, I do!" Steven replied. "She's my niece! Right, Raven?"

Raven looked up at him and began trying to talk, although what she was saying couldn't be understood at all.

"Well, please keep her under better control!" the employee said and began walking away. "She's been causing far too much trouble!"

Steven sighed and let go of Raven's mouth. "You never do stop getting in trouble, do you?"

"What do you want?!" Raven snapped. "And what's with me being your niece? I'm not related to you at all!"

"Well, you never know…" Steven said, slowly walking in the opposite direction. "Anyone could be your relative, you just don't know…"

He looked behind himself and saw that Raven was gone. Panicking, he started looking around in a hurry.

"She went up to the rooftop," a woman said, pointing upwards.

"Oh, thank you," Steven replied and began going to the next flight of stairs. "How did you know who I was-? Never mind…"

As soon as he reached the rooftop, he was greeted loudly by a group of Pokémon.

"IT'S STEVEN! WAZZUP, BROTHA?!"

"No, no, no!" a girl shouted and jumped in front of Steven, waving her hands around. "They might seem like they're drunk, but they're not, I swear!"

"O-okay…" Steven said slowly and looked at the group of now hysterically laughing Pokémon. "Um… Is there anyone up here by the names of Raven, Brendan, Pearl, and Yellow?"

"Hey, I'm your niece, remember?" Raven asked and suddenly appeared next to him, causing him to jump back in surprise.

"Ah, my name's Yellow!" someone said and walked out from the group of Pokémon, laughing nervously. The kid had a straw hat on and yellow hair.

"Oh, I get it!" Steven said. "Your name's Yellow and so is your hair!"

Everyone, Pokémon included, went silent and began staring at him. Steven started laughing, although it sounded rather fake, and said, "I'm just kidding!"

"Brendan's here too," Raven said and pointed somewhere. "What do you want with us anyways?"

Steven began thinking of everything that happened in the past 20 minutes. Why was he here again? What was he supposed to tell them? Why the heck was he in Lilycove anyways?

"Oh, it's just… You see, I'm headed to Mossdeep City, and I was wondering if you guys would like to come along!"

"Why?"

Steven stopped himself from hitting himself. "Well, you see, the next Pokémon gym is there, so I thought maybe I'd bring you guys with me there!"

"Oh, well…" Yellow started slowly and started laughing. "You see, I'm not interested in challenging Gym Leaders so I have no reason to go there!"

"Oh, but it's… uh… a great place to visit! There's Wailmer watching and… there's the Mossdeep Space Center too!"

Everyone gasped. "Space center?!"

"Yeah!" Steven said and nodded quickly. Now he was just saying anything he could think of, just to get them to go. "With rockets and everything!"

In a flash, Raven returned all of her Pokémon to their Poké Balls and began patting Steven's back. "Steven, my man! Why didn't you say that in the first place?"

Steven smiled unsurely. "Well, maybe it had something to do with my not knowing that you like outer space."


	36. Chapter Thirty Five

A/N: I get this thought that Mossdeep City is... very island-ish. So island-ish I made it. :3

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Five

"_One, two, one, two!"_

"_Row faster! Time's a-wasting!"_

_Raven, Brendan, Pearl, and Yellow sat in a rowboat, rowing the boat. Steven stood at the front of the boat, wearing a captain hat and a long black coat. For some odd reason he wore no shirt and only wore jeans._

_The other four were dressed in black and white shirts, all rowing the boat and counting, keeping in time with one another._

"_Yes sir!" they all answered. "Faster now! One, two, one, two!"_

"Raven?"

"_I'm trying to row a boat here!" Raven shouted. "What do ye want with me?!"_

"Raven?"

"_What is it, ye scallywag?" Raven shouted again. "Quit bothering me or I'll have Captain make you walk the plank!"_

_There was no answer for a moment. _"Why would the Captain listen to you anyways?"

"_Because!" Raven answered. "I'm his number one sailor! Don't ye know that, scallywag?"_

"No, I didn't. But that's interesting."

"_Bah, today's youth!" Raven snapped. "Becoming interested by everything! Have ye kids nothing better to do?"_

"Wake up already, stupid!"

At that, Raven shook her head and opened her eyes. She found herself lying on a bed. Brendan and Hajime were both sitting next to the bed, each with extremely amused expressions on their faces.

Raven sat up. "What do ye… I mean, you want?!"

"Um, we just…" Hajime started, trying not to laugh. "We're almost at Mossdeep City, so we came here to… wake you up…"

"Forget that!" Brendan said and began laughing. "We're scallywags!"

The two both began laughing hysterically, leaving a very confused Raven looking at them. Just as she was about to ask them what they were talking about, she felt the room rock back and forth and covered her mouth.

"I don't feel so good…" she mumbled and laid back down. Hajime and Brendan were both still laughing, although Raven no longer cared what they thought was funny. She only cared about keeping her mouth closed so nothing unwanted would come out.

The rocking abruptly stopped and Raven cringed as she felt her stomach get an even more foul feeling. The two boys' laughing still didn't stop and it was now getting to being annoying.

"Hey guys!" a voice outside shouted and the door to the room opened. "We're here! Mossdeep City!"

Raven slowly got out of the bed she was in and walked past the two, proceeding to exit the room to get away from them. Yellow, the person who opened the door, left it open and started following her.

"Feeling any better?" Yellow asked and Raven nodded.

"A little bit. But when I woke up, Brendan said something about scallywags and they started laughing."

Yellow tilted his head. "Scallywags?"

"Yeah, I know," Raven answered. "I don't get it either."

The two walked off the boat and landed on the sand of the beach of Mossdeep City. Ahead of them was an island; trees and flowers everywhere along with bird Pokémon sitting in the trees, chirping.

A tall white building was in the distance, which Raven assumed to be the space center that Steven mentioned. She followed Yellow as he walked up the steps leading from the beach to the island itself. They then stood under a tree and waited for everyone else to get off the boat.

"Steven, you seriously live here?!" Pearl exclaimed, looking at the island in awe. "This place is amazing! I'm so getting a house here when I grow up!"

Steven laughed. "I don't really come home often though, so it's been I while since I last came here…"

"Are you serious?!" Pearl continued. "I'd never leave this place if I lived here!"

Pearl then looked over to where Raven and Yellow were standing under a tree, presumably waiting for them. She waved their hand at them and shouted, "You don't have to wait for us! Go do what you want!"

"Thank you!" Yellow shouted and he and Raven began running off. Pearl grinned to herself before looking over her shoulder and her brother and Hajime, who were still laughing.

---

"Ah, it's eating me!" Raven shouted and hopped backwards. She was standing in the ocean along with Yellow and several of fish Pokémon were playing with them.

Yellow laughed. "That'd be great for a scary movie! 'Attack of the Luvdisc!'"

Raven nodded and bent down to poke the head of the pink, heart-shaped Pokémon that was nipping at her ankles. The Luvdisc shot water out at her face before continuing to nip her ankles.

"…It sprayed me…" Raven muttered and Yellow started laughing again.

"You know…" Yellow began and looked out at the ocean. "It's so weird, playing in the ocean like this. It feels like it's summer but, in reality, it's almost winter."

"It is?"

Yellow nodded. "Yeah. I lose track of the date sometimes, but I'm pretty sure we're at the middle of November. Maybe it's not almost winter but… You get what I mean, right?"

Raven looked out at the ocean as well. The sun was starting to set, making the sky orange and yellow. "…It doesn't even feel like it's been that long since I left home…"

"When did you leave?"

"September," Raven answered. "I moved here from Sinnoh about the middle of September and came here since my dad was accepted as a Gym Leader."

"Wow, really?" Yellow asked. "I came here from Kanto… It's pretty far away too. To tell the truth, I don't even remember why I came to Hoenn." Yellow stopped talking and looked at Raven. "Did you have lots of friends back in Sinnoh?"

Raven shrugged. "Yeah, I had three friends. Their names are Dawn, Lucas, and Jun and I've known them since I was little."

Yellow was silent for a moment. He then looked at Raven again, smiling. "Are you and I friends?"

"What?" Raven asked and looked at him in confusion.

"Sorry…" Yellow said and kicked the water slightly. "I just come up with random questions sometimes. I was really just wondering on whether you thought of me as a friend."

Raven muttered something and looked away. "Well, I guess so. I guess we are friends."Yellow's face brightened and he hugged Raven happily. "That's great to know!"

"What?" Raven asked again. "Why are you so happy?"

Yellow let go of her and smiled sheepishly. "It's just…" he started but shook his head. "Never mind. There's no reason why."

The two didn't say anything for a moment. "…Raven?"

"Yeah?"

"I have a secret to tell you!"

Raven looked at Yellow oddly. "You do?"

Yellow nodded quickly. "You wanna know what it is?"

"Sure, since you mentioned it."

"But it's a secret, so don't tell anybody!"

"Okay, I got it."

Yellow grinned widely and looked back at the sun. He then took a hold of his straw hat and took it off. A ponytail fell out and Yellow looked over at Raven, holding the hat in front of himself.

No, wait. Not himself.

Herself. Yellow was a girl.

* * *

Super retarded way to end a chapter, I know. But at least I can refer to Yellow as a girl now and not have to check over everything to make sure I didn't refer to Yellow as a girl. ...That made no sense.


	37. Chapter Thirty Six

Chapter Thirty-Six

A black haired boy yawned and stretched as he headed towards a refrigerator. His hair was rather long, falling past his shoulders. He opened up the fridge, looking around for something to eat. His eyes landed on a small cup, which he took and lifted the lid off.

"What is this…?" he muttered and sniffed it. It smelled sweet. He reached over to a drawer and opened it, taking out a spoon. "Let's see…"

He tasted it and nearly gagged. "Ugh, this is disgusting!" he shouted and shook his head, trying to get the sour taste out of his mouth. "Who bought this stuff anyway…?"

After a quick moment, he took another bite of it and had the same reaction again. Yet, for some reason, he kept eating it. When it was finally all gone, he walked over to the garbage to throw out the container and looked up.

His sister, who looked identical in appearance to him, stood in the kitchen, looking at him with a horrified look.

"Tate… YOU IDIOT! THAT WAS MY PUDDING!"

"Wait, this was pudding?"

---

Brendan stood in front of a mirror, trying to fix his green headband he wore. Unlike some people he knew, he cared about how he looked. He took quite a while to fix his hair in the morning. As for his headband, it had to look straight and have none of his hair falling over it.

"There!" he said finally and stopped fixing the headband, standing back to look at himself in the mirror. Everything looked right, nothing had stains on it, nothing was too wrinkled. Perfect.

"Done with your morning ritual?" Raven asked, opening the door to the room they were staying in.

"Hey, hey!" Brendan shouted. "Knock first, will you?"

Raven began knocking on the door. "Can I come in?"

Brendan sighed. "Jeez, I can't even have some peace and quiet to myself…"

"That's your fault," Raven said and walked over to the bed she had slept in, reaching under the covers for something. "Also, you're the only boy I've ever known that takes nearly half an hour to get dressed."

"That's because I don't want to look like a slob!" Brendan retorted. He then looked at Raven slowly. "Unlike someone I know…"

"Are you talking about me?!" Raven asked and glared at him.

"I don't know," Brendan answered and turned around, leaving the room. "Anyways, I guess we should find the Gym, shouldn't we?"

"Wait!" Raven snapped and followed after him. "Yeah but… This Gym Leader might be even tougher than Winona…"

Brendan shrugged. "So? That's the challenge. They're supposed to be tough." He then stopped walking and looked at Raven oddly. "You sound like you know how tough Winona is…"

"That's 'cause I do," Raven answered. "I battled her."

"What?! When?! Did you win?!"

Raven looked in the opposite direction and began walking away. Brendan smiled evilly and slowly said, "You lost, didn't you?"

"I did not!"

"Liar."

Raven didn't answer him back and instead ran out of the Pokémon Center. The sun was shining brightly and a slight breeze blew across the island.

"It's nice here, isn't it?" Brendan asked and Raven nodded. He then hurried up to a woman and tapped on her shoulder. "Excuse me, miss? Do you know where the Gym is?"

The woman smiled nervously. "Yes, but the Gym Leaders aren't there right now."

"Oh, okay…" Brendan said. "Do you know where they are?"

"Well…" the woman started slowly. Just as she got ready to say where, Brendan and Raven looked over in the direction of two kids dressed in light blue.

"Liza! I said I'm sorry!" one of them said. He was following after the first kid, who obviously looked angry.

"Sorry isn't gonna work!" the other, named Liza, shouted at him. "I wanted to eat that pudding and YOU ate it instead!"

"I didn't know it was yours!"

"Well, if you didn't know whose it was, why did you eat it?"

"Because it's a refrigerator! With food! For people to eat!" he responded. "If it was so important to you, you should've put your name on it!"

The woman tapped Brendan's shoulder, getting his attention back. "Those two are the Gym Leaders. As you can see, though, they're both fighting…"

"Tate!" Liza began and marched up to him. "JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Liza walked past him, leaving the other kid, Tate, standing there with a troubled look on his face.

"Don't worry, I've got this!" Brendan started and ran after Liza. "Excuse me, miss! I know exactly how you feel! Just the other day my sister ate something I'd been saving and…"

Raven glared at him and walked over to Tate's side. "Stupid Brendan. He's not helping at all."

Tate looked at the ground. "I've told her I'm sorry at least a million times but she won't forgive me…" he mumbled. "I told her I'd buy her another one but she said no! I told her I'd keep silent for an entire week if she forgave me! She said no!"

"Silent for a week?" Raven asked. "I would've taken up that offer immediately." She then looked at Tate and put her hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, I know exactly how you feel!"

"How do you know?"

"I eat things that my friends save all the time! 'Course, I lie and tell them that someone else did it, but I don't think they believe me."

"Well, I couldn't lie!" Tate answered. "She caught me eating it! Then she chased me around the house screaming at me until our parents woke up and told us to stop!"

"Huh…" Raven muttered and began walking away. "Bye."

"Wait, you're just gonna leave like that?!" Tate asked and started following her quickly. "Where're you going?!"

"Space Center!" Raven shouted. "I want to go there!"

Tate sighed. "Okay. Could I come with you?"

"Sure. I don't care."

---

"Everyone, come on out!" Yellow shouted and tossed six Poké Balls into the air. The first Pokémon to come out was a yellow mouse Pokémon with a pink flower on its head. Next was a three headed bird, followed by a brown rat, a blue thing with tentacles and a shell, a large rock thing with arms and legs, and a butterfly-like Pokémon.

"Okay everyone!" Yellow said to her Pokémon happily. "We're at Mossdeep City right now! It's really awesome here and I wanted you guys to enjoy the time here too!"

The Pokémon all nodded happily and began hurrying off to play in the water. Yellow smiled as she watched them play but then frowned. Something didn't seem right about her being here. Almost as though she came there against her own will, but she knew she came because she wanted to.

"Yellow?"

Yellow looked over to one of her Pokémon, a Pikachu. "What's wrong Chuchu?"

Chuchu shook her head. "Nothing. But you look like you're bothered by something."

"Oh, nothing's wrong at all!" Yellow answered and began laughing. "Say, I'm going to go somewhere for a moment, okay?"

Chuchu nodded and Yellow began hurrying away.

---

"I told you to stop following me!"

Tate looked at Raven, smiling nervously. "Who would've thought Liza would be here?"

Sure enough, Liza stood at the top of a hill leading to the Space Center. She looked at Tate angrily and then looked at Raven. And then back at Tate.

"Who's the girl?"

"Oh, I'm the referee," Raven answered.

Liza crossed her arms over her chest. "Referee for what?"

"Um…" Raven began. Just as she was about to answer she started swaying from side to side before falling down. Tate quickly caught her before she hit the ground and tried to get her to sit up straight.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked. Liza had also become slightly worried by what was happening to her and began walking towards her and Tate.

"I don't know…" she mumbled. "I got dizzy 'cause it felt like the ground was moving…"

Tate looked at her in confusion before looking over the nearby ledge and at the ocean. He was getting an odd feeling that something bad was happening, or at least going to happen.

All of a sudden the ground abruptly moved, causing Tate, Liza, and Raven to all fall to the ground. Tate quickly covered his and Raven's heads, feeling the ground shaking violently beneath him. In a moment the shaking stopped as abruptly as it had started and Tate slowly looked up.

Liza had also covered her own head, which made Tate breath out a sigh of relief. He then heard the voices of many people; they were shouting, screaming, crying…

Tate quickly sat up and looked around. Raven also sat up, still covering her head. Liza also looked up warily before starting to crawl over to Tate and Raven.

The sound of something cracking was heard and Liza stopped moving, looking beneath herself. Realizing she was on the edge of the hill, she began panicking and tried to move away from the edge.

"Liza!" Tate shouted and watched in horror as the ground beneath his sister broke off, dropping down to the ocean with Liza.


	38. Chapter Thirty Seven

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Tate shut his eyes tightly after his sister had fallen. "L-Liza…"

Raven looked over where Liza had been and looked at Tate. "Uh… I…"

Something flew past them so quickly that Raven wasn't even sure if she saw anything. Whatever flew past them reappeared even quicker, skidding to a stop on the ground. Raven saw that it was a silver bird Pokémon that stopped. She then saw something on its back…

"It's Liza!"

Tate looked up in surprise. Sure enough, the Pokémon had an unconscious Liza on its back. Both Tate and Raven hurried to it, both taking Liza off of its back. Tate began hugging her as soon as she was off, crying.

Raven looked up at the bird Pokémon. "Thanks for saving her…"

"Skar!" it cried and motioned over to the Space Center. The building seemed as though nothing had damaged it. But that wasn't what the Pokémon was motioning at.

Steven had rushed out of the building and was hurrying over to them, followed by several scientists and… Team Magma?

"Is she okay?" Steven asked and bent down to take a look at Liza. "Skarmory? Did you get her in time?"

Skarmory nodded. "Skar! Skar!"

"She just passed out from fright," Steven said in relief before looking up at Raven and Tate. "You two aren't hurt, are you?"

The two shook their heads. "Good," Steven continued and began glaring at the Team Magma people who had come out of the Space Center. "Any idea that you guys know what that was?"

They all looked at each other before a man walked forward. It was Team Magma's leader, Maxie. "Even if we did know, what makes you think we'd tell you?"

Steven cursed to himself and reached in his jacket pocket, taking out his PokéNav. He began calling someone but shook his head and put it back in his pocket.

"No signal, for some reason," he said. "It's a wireless signal, yet it's not working…"

Steven stood up, picking up Liza as he did so. "Let's hurry to the Pokémon Center! Be careful of any aftershocks, everyone." He stopped and looked at Team Magma. "You guys come along too."

---

"Everyone, please stay calm!" Nurse Joy shouted, trying to get the panicking people's attention. "Please, stay calm!"

Pearl stood behind herself, her arms wrapped around herself protectively. She hadn't a single idea what was happening; all she knew was that just now there had been an earthquake.

She looked towards one of the Pokémon Center's windows and gasped as she saw Yellow hurrying to the beach. "No!" she started and started in the direction she saw Yellow, only to be stopped by Nurse Joy.

"Please stay in the building!"

"But…" Pearl said and looked out the window.

---

Yellow looked around in fright, trying to find her Pokémon. She left them on the beach… Yet none of them were there.

"Chuchu!" she shouted. "Ratty! Dody! Kitty! Gravvy!…" Yellow slowed to a stop. "…Omny?"

"Yellow! Are you okay?!"

Yellow looked over her shoulder to see Raven and a group of other people hurrying by. Yellow nodded her head quickly and Raven frowned at her, leaving the group and going over to her.

"Hey, Steven said we should be careful of any aftershocks…" she said slowly. "…Is something wrong?"

Yellow nodded. "My Pokémon… I left them on the beach so they could play but… But they aren't here anymore!"

Raven said nothing and looked across the beach. Not a single thing other than sand was seen on it. She looked back at Yellow, who seemed to be on the verge of tears.

"Yellow…" she muttered. All of a sudden, both Raven and Yellow screamed as something began coming out of a cave in a nearby wall on the beach.

"Hey! Is something the matter!?" Steven came up to them and looked at them both. "Raven, I told you to follow us! What're you doing?"

He stopped talking as soon as he saw something coming out of the aforementioned cave. The shape of it was rugged, almost like a giant walking boulder. Yellow suddenly began running towards it and started hugging it, shouting random words out.

"…What?" Steven asked in confusion and looked at Raven, who realized that he wanted her to tell him what was going on.

"Uh, I think that's her Pokémon. She left them out on the beach right before the earthquake happened…"

Steven nodded. "Hurry back to the Pokémon Center, got it? I'm going there right now."

---

At Lilycove City, Flannery sat nervously on the counter in the Pokémon, watching as Nurse Joy was trying to take care of people who had been coming in sick. Why was she there? After Winona had gotten a call from Roxanne about an attack on Mt. Pyre, Winona had called her and Brawly and told them to head there and get Roxanne.

Flannery decided to stay with Roxanne at the Pokémon Center in Lilycove City so she wouldn't be lonely. Also so that she could feel like she wasn't a complete failure since she barely even helped out at Mt. Pyre. (Brawly had been doing most of the work.)

The video phone beside the counter began ringing. Flannery looked at it quickly and then at Nurse Joy, who was apparently too busy to notice. When it began ringing a second time, Flannery hopped off the counter and picked up the phone.

"Um… Hello?"

The video screen clicked on, showing Steven on it. "Flannery? What're you-? Never mind. Something serious is happening over in Mossdeep City!"

"Serious? Like what?"

"Just a few minutes ago there was an earthquake! Not to mention Team Magma was at the Space Center, trying to do who-knows-what!"

"Um…" Flannery began slowly and looked down. "What should I do?"

"Tell Winona, that's what!" Steven answered. "I've got a bad feeling that that earthquake wasn't a natural occurrence…"

Flannery nodded and looked behind herself. Winona was also there, interrogating random people about what happened. "W-winona?"

Winona looked over at her. "What?"

"Um… It's Steven! He, uh… Has something important to tell you!"

Winona hurried over and took the phone from her. "What is it?"

Flannery watched nervously as Steven told her what happened. When Winona's face got a look of shock on it, she couldn't help but get afraid. She already knew what happened, unless Steven was telling her other things as well.

Flannery looked around the Pokémon Center. When her eyes landed on Roxanne, Roxanne looked up at her with a worried look and nodded. Flannery assumed that she knew how she felt and sighed, looking back at Winona. Flannery had only one thought on her mind at that moment.

_What in the world is happening?!_


	39. Chapter Thirty Eight

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Raven stood next to Yellow and Pearl as she watched Steven talk to Winona on the phone. He soon hung up and looked around at all the panicking people in the Pokémon Center. "Everyone! Excuse me!"

He climbed up on the main counter of the Pokémon Center and waved his arms around, getting everyone's attention. "I've just contacted Winona and she's told me that it's okay for everyone to return to their normal activities. Only, please be careful and if you find anything or anyone hurt by the earthquake, please come here and tell us."

"Hey! Are you freaking serious?" someone in the crowd shouted. "There was just an earthquake and you tell us all to 'return to our normal activities'?!"

Steven glared at the man. "We told you it's fine. So just do what I said, got it?"

The person said no more as everyone began leaving the Pokémon Center. Steven climbed off the counter and headed over to where the group from Team Magma were standing, who were all being avoided by the other people.

"Steven's so awesome!~" Pearl said, sounding like she was in love. She probably was.

"Uh… whatever," Raven muttered and earned herself an icy glare from Pearl. "Anyways, where's Brendan?"

"I don't know!" Pearl said, continuing with her voice. "But he would've loved to see Steven get all serious like that too!~"

Raven rolled her eyes while Yellow began laughing. Raven then began walking off to the entrance of the Pokémon, passing by where Steven and Team Magma were. Being intentionally nosy, she slowed down and tried to listen to them.

"-was probably caused by Team Aqua! I'm surprised that you fools didn't try to track us down after we left Mt. Pyre!"

That was Maxie.

Steven was grabbing Maxie by the front of his shirt. The two were both glaring at each other, that is until Steven let go of Maxie's shirt and spun around, leaving the Pokémon Center.

Raven tilted her head curiously and walked outside.

---

Night had fallen in Mossdeep City. Everyone was back to doing what they were doing, almost as though there wasn't an earthquake at all earlier. Yellow and Raven headed back into the Pokémon Center with them both doing their best Pikachu imitations.

Needless to say that Raven sounded like something dying.

"Hey, Raven! Yellow!"

The two looked up once they walked into the building and saw Pearl waving at them. She pointed behind herself, shouting, "Are you hungry? We're eating over here!"

Yellow looked at Raven and smiled. "Let's go, okay?" Raven nodded and the two hurried over to Pearl, who led them to a table where Brendan, Hajime, Hitomi, Solana, and Lunick were.

"What, you guys are still here?" Raven asked and sat down in a seat.

"Well… Yeah!" Solana answered and started laughing. "It's really nice here…"

Lunick suddenly raised his hand in the air. "I got rejected 12 times today!"

No one said anything about his statement. In fact, they all seemed to just ignore what he said.

"I got so scared today during that earthquake!" Hitomi said, laughing quietly as she sipped her drink. "It was so sudden…"

"Hito, I'm sure everyone was scared during that," Hajime said and punched her lightly in the shoulder. He then looked over at Raven. "Say, I didn't see you at all today. Where've you been?"

"Does it matter to you where I've been?" Raven asked. "It doesn't, so leave me alone."

"Aw, stop being mean to everyone!" Pearl whined. "Just tell him!"

Raven frowned. "I was at the Space Center all day long. There, I said it."

"All day!?" Hajime asked and leaned back against his seat. "Wow. I don't think I could ever stay in that place for more than a hour."

Just as Raven got ready to say something back to him, Brendan quickly interrupted. "I wish I could've entered a contest in Lilycove! Why didn't I…?"

"'Cause we all had to leave, that's why," Raven muttered. "Steven made us, remember?"

Brendan nodded. "Yeah… I wonder why?"

All of them shrugged. Suddenly, however, Raven tensed up, sensing a terribly familiar presence around her. She didn't want to turn around to look.

But she did.

"RAVEN!~"

"No, it's Nami!" Raven screamed and jumped out of her seat. Pearl grabbed her arm and pulled her back down, halting all chances of her escaping.

Sure enough, the orange obsessed trainer came running towards them from seemingly nowhere and tackled Raven, hugging her tightly.

"I love you!~ I missed you!" she said, rubbing her face against Raven's. Raven was not amused. "Oh, wow, have you gotten even more cute than last time? I think so! Yeah, definitely!

Hajime, Hitomi, Solana, Lunick, and Yellow all looked at each other in severe confusion. Lunick was, of course, first one to open his mouth.

"Hey, you're not… serious, are you?"

"Of course I'm serious!" Nami snapped, loosening her grip on Raven and trying to sit on the same seat as her. "Raven's the cutest person ever!"

"No, no, that's not really what I meant… I mean, are you serious about loving her?"

"Yes!" Nami answered. She smiled happily and looked at Raven, who looked disgusted by her mere presence. "We're gonna get married someday! Right?"

"No."

Nami shook her head. "Don't worry, I'll change that real soon! Yes, yes, I will!" She then began rubbing her face against Raven's once again. "By the way, recently I've started the official Raven fan club!"

"Liar," Raven muttered.

"No, no, I did!" Nami continued. "We only have two members now but we're both trying to recruit more! No one seems to know who you are though…"

Brendan nudged Pearl in her side. "A second member? This person must be out of their minds."

All of a sudden, Nami jumped out of her seat and pointed up. "All right! I'm going to get food for me and Raven!"

"But I already have-"

"No, no! I shall get you some! Wait right here!"

And so Nami ran off somewhere. Raven quickly stood up from her seat and began walking away.

"Wait, Raven!" Yellow called. "Where're you going? Didn't that girl tell you to wait?"

"Oh, there's no way I'd ever wait for her!" Raven answered and hurried off. "NO WAY!"

No one said anything and simply continued eating their food. "Um… that was weird…" Lunick muttered and everyone nodded.

Someone walking by their table stopped and posed. "Word, dudes."

"Uh… Who the heck are you?" Lunick asked and the person began walking away.


	40. Chapter Thirty Nine

_Author Notes:_ Shortest chapter so far, I think so.

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Sooner or later, everyone in the Pokémon Center had gone back to their rooms and fallen asleep. Not a single sound was heard throughout the building; it was completely silent.

However, something odd began happening outside.

---

Raven opened her eyes and rolled over in her bed, being careful to not roll over Cherrim, who probably wouldn't have noticed her rolling over him anyways. Raven looked at the window; it was bright outside.

"It's morning already…?" she mumbled and shoved her face in the pillow. "I don't feel like I slept at all…"

She got out of bed and went through Pearl's bag, taking out the PokéNav and leaving the room. To her surprise, it looked like she was the only one awake in the Pokémon Center. Raven didn't really care though.

She turned on the PokéNav and began calling the number for the PokéNav she gave to Dawn, Lucas, and Jun. When someone finally answered, Raven became confused.

It was still dark where they were.

"Raven? Why are you calling so late?" Jun muttered, yawning loudly and rubbing his eyes.

"What? It's morning, isn't it?"

Jun looked at her with an annoyed face. "…Sinnoh and Hoenn only have about an hour time difference, right? Uh, let's see… It would be 1:27 where you are."

Raven frowned. "What? 1:27?"

"Yeah, 1:27," Jun grumbled. "Thanks for waking me up."

"Your welcome," Raven answered. The PokéNav began losing its signal, the screen becoming blurry and noises coming from it.

Then it went black.

Raven began trying to turn it back on. For some reason, it wouldn't. Raven gave up and began hurrying back to her room, trying to think of lies for why the PokéNav wouldn't work anymore.

Raven went in the room, put the PokéNav back in Pearl's bag, and looked up at the top bunk of the two bunk beds in the room, where she was sleeping. She pulled herself up and began poking Pearl's shoulder.

"What…?" she muttered and smacked Raven's hand away. "What do you want?"

"Look how bright it is outside."

"Yeah, I see. That's called 'sunlight'. Now let me sleep."

"But it's almost 1:30 in the morning."

"Yeah, sure it is. Go away."

Raven sighed and hopped back onto the floor. Now what would she do?

Raven left the room again and hurried out to the main room of the Pokémon Center. For some reason, Steven was there, staring out through the front doors of the building with his arms crossed over his chest. He noticed her and nodded towards her, but continued staring outside.

"Why's it so bright?" Raven asked.

"So you noticed, did you?" Steven mumbled. "It's the middle of the night, yet there's this much sunlight…"

He stepped back from the doors and looked back at her. "Are you sure you want to know?"

"Sure, go ahead," Raven muttered and shrugged. "I don't care."

"That earthquake earlier… It was caused by the awakening of Groudon. And this sunlight? It's also caused by it too."

"Wait, what?"

"Team Aqua and Magma awakened Groudon, and probably Kyogre as well. If Groudon is coming in this direction…"

Steven stopped talking and began running off to somewhere in the center. Raven didn't bother to follow him and instead just looked outside.

"…What the heck's a Groudon?"

---

If there was anything Flannery hated more than being a failure, it was being woke up in the middle of her sleep. She loved sleeping… if it was a sport, she'd be a pro at it.

But, anyways. Flannery had been sleeping peacefully when someone came and shook her until she woke up. Not much of a surprise to her that it was Winona.

"What is it?"

"Bad. An emergency," Winona answered and pulled on her arm, pulling her out of her bed. "A crisis. A disaster. A-"

"I got it, it's bad!" Flannery whined and pulled her arm out of her grasp. "What happened?"

Flannery regretted asking the question as soon as it left her mouth. Well, she'd find out either way, but she hated hearing it from Winona, who made things sound even scarier.

"Just what we didn't want to happen," Winona said grimly. "Groudon and Kyogre have woken up."


	41. Chapter Forty

_Author Notes: _My biggest wonder about the Pokémon world is why they let children do such dangerous things, like, say, going to stop giant legendary Pokémon?

* * *

Chapter Forty

Cherrim opened his eyes, wide awake in less than 5 seconds. Sitting up, he looked around the room in confusion. Doing so was a ritual for him; he almost always forgot where he was when he woke up.

But that was besides the point. Raven, Brendan, Pearl, and Yellow weren't in the room. It was just the Pokémon in there, all asleep in the beds.

Cherrim looked back over to where his friends slept in the same bed as him. There was Piplup, Guru-n, Chao, Magnemite, and Pichu, who for some odd reason was sitting straight up, also awake.

"You're awake too, Cherrim?"

Cherrim looked over to one of the other beds, where Grovyle sat against the wall with his hands behind his head. Cherrim nodded and Grovyle motioned over to the door.

"For some reason everyone else got up and went out there to talk. Brendan told us to stay in here. Also… Do you realize how bright it is?"

Cherrim looked over to the room's window. Sure enough, sunlight was pouring through. "Yeah, I see it. What's the matter with it?"

"It's the middle of the night," Grovyle grumbled.

"Really?!" Cherrim asked excitedly and began jumping on the bed. "That's so cool! Sunlight at night! YAY!"

Grovyle simply shook his head as everyone else began waking up because of Cherrim. "I just don't get you at all."

---

Pearl wasn't sure if she was really awake or if she was just dreaming things. From what she just heard, Groudon had woken up? Or something like that. And that's why it was bright outside?

There's really no way that she could be awake. Right? She was just having a dream.

But she knew she wasn't sleeping. No, not because she asked Raven and Brendan to pinch her. It was instinct.

"Everyone needs to get their things together now!" Steven shouted, standing in front of everyone in the Pokémon Center. "We're evacuating immediately! So please hurry!"

"Evacuating?!" Pearl shouted. Luckily, no one heard her due to the loudness of everyone talking and shouting things.

She felt something pulling on the sleeve of her shirt and looked over to see Brendan pointing in the other direction.

"Come on, let's hurry up and get our stuff."

---

"Please stay in a group and keep calm, everyone!" Steven shouted and motioned to where several boats were waiting. People were coming out of the buildings with bags, their Pokémon, and children, who were all half-asleep.

"Don't worry Steven! We'll take care of this problem!"

Steven looked over to his left to see Raven and another girl standing in front of him, saluting. He frowned and shook his head. "Absolutely not."

"But why?!"

"I can't allow citizens to endanger themselves!" he snapped. "Your safety is what's important right now!"

The girl looked at Raven and began laughing. "He sounds like he's reading a script or something."

Steven sighed. "Please, you two. We need to get everyone away from here immediately, and having you say random things is not helping at all."

"We'll help then!" Raven shouted. "Everyone! Please proceed to… the place where it's safe!"

"Both of you, go away!" Steven ordered and began pushing them in the direction of the boats. "Leave!"

"But we can help, really!" the other girl begged. "And if you don't let us, we'll just do it ourselves!"

Steven glared at her. "No, you will not!"

"Sure we will!" she said and reached into the bag she had slung over her shoulders, taking out a Poké Ball. "Raven, let's surf!"

Steven quickly reached out and grabbed the Poké Ball from her. "Will you please just listen to me?! There's nothing you can do to help! Just hurry and get on a boat!"

The girl frowned at him, along with Raven. A boy with a cowboy hat came up behind the two and grabbed the back of their shirts, trying to pull them away. "Come on guys!"

"Wait a moment!"

The three looked at each other and then at Steven. Neither of them said anything, yet they just heard a woman's voice. Maybe the heat was getting to their heads faster than they thought…

All of a sudden, a woman landed next to them and quickly stood up, pushing back her hair. "Steven, we need all the help we can get. So we should be accepting all the help requests we get, right?"

"Winona, when did you-?!" he began and shook his head. "I know that. But these guys are just kids and… you know…"

Winona smiled. "Yes, I know. But weren't you the one who told me about a couple of kid trainers that were really skilled?"

"Yes but…"

Winona looked back at the three children. "You guys, I'll lend you my Pokémon. They'll bring you to Sootopolis City, or at least they'll try to."

"What do you mean 'try to'?" the kid with the cowboy hat asked.

Winona grimaced. "Well, you'll see…"

She then took out two Poké Balls and tossed them in the air. "Skarmory and Altaria will take you guys. The two smallest can get on Altaria while the other can get on Skarmory."

"Thanks Ms. Winona!" the three said and got on the Pokémon's backs; Raven and the kid with the cowboy hat on Altaria and the other girl on Skarmory's.

"Oh, but what about Brendan and Pearl?" the cowboy kid asked.

"Don't worry!" a girl shouted from within the crowd. They all looked over to see Pearl coming out of the crowd of people with Brendan following along. "We'll follow you guys on Tropius!"

Winona nodded and quickly pat her Pokémon on their heads. "You two know what to do right? Now go!"

The two nodded and quickly spread their wings and jumped up, flying off in the direction of Sootopolis City.


	42. Chapter Forty One

Author's Notes: Completely random as usual, but I hate how the anime dealt with the Kyogre vs. Groudon thing. Why the heck was Lance there, of all people?! I would've preferred Steven or Wallace.

Also, I'm currently rewriting the first couple of chapters as well as giving them names. So, yay?

* * *

Chapter Forty-One

A light blue haired man stood in front of a Pokémon Gym, his arms crossed over his chest as he watched the current scene in front of him. Just a while ago, something had begun to rise out of the water in the center of the crater-like city. It began raining as well, although this rain was not a drizzle. It was a downpour.

Now a whale-like, blue thing sat in the water, motionless. All the people in the city had come out of their houses to see what was happening and, currently, that's what they were doing. Most of them didn't have a clue what the thing was, but the man did.

He looked down at his feet. Water had begun to come up onto the island area where the Gym was and now it gathered around his feet.

"Wallace, sir!" someone shouted from one of the other areas of ground. "What's happening?!"

Wallace looked back at the person. "Everyone needs to get to higher ground!" he ordered and the person saluted, hurrying off. Wallace turned back to look at the thing in the water.

"I can't believe they actually did it… They actually woke up Kyogre…"

Much to his surprise, the rain suddenly cut off and was replaced by extremely bright sunlight. But it was only nighttime…

---

Somewhere else in Hoenn, or to be specific, Mauville City, people were exiting their homes and heading to the south exit of the city. People were also coming into the city from the north and west exits and also heading south.

Had the Gym Leader of Mauville City known that he'd someday have to put New Mauville to use, he would've cleaned it up a bit.

"How about a joke to lighten up the mood?" Wattson suggested. "Why did the Miltank cross the road?" When no one answered, Wattson proceeded to finish his joke. "To get to the 'udder' side! Hahaha!"

No one laughed and Wattson could swear that he felt like everyone was glaring at the back of him. He laughed nervously and fumbled around with a metal ring crowded with keys, trying to find the one that opened up the doors to New Mauville. He took one and put it into the key hole and tried to turn it.

It didn't work.

He looked back at the people following him sheepishly, pointing at all of the keys. "Well, only one of these keys is going to work, you know?"

Everyone sighed loudly and Wattson turned around, looking through the keys and trying them all in the locks. He then stopped abruptly and reached into the pocket in his pants, pulling out a key.

"Here it is!"

He winced as everyone sighed again and unlocked the doors, stepping aside and letting the people go down under. Wattson looked up at the sky, which was beginning to brighten and remembered what had happened earlier…

_Wattson had woken up from his sleep and was sitting at a desk, writing down a joke that he'd just dreamt of. His PokéNav had begun to ring, which Wattson thought was odd since it was about 2:00 in the morning. After it stopped ringing, Wattson decided that he should take it apart and see if the battery needed replacing. And that's what he did._

_Someone had begun to knock on his door sometime later and when Wattson went to answer it, he saw that Norman was outside his door and thought up of a brilliant (or not so brilliant) joke and hurried off to write it down._

_Norman had stopped him before he was even able to reach a pen and paper and asked him why he wasn't answering his PokéNav. Wattson was confused by this, asking who would be calling this late at night. _

_Norman then informed him that Kyogre and Groudon had both woken up and that they needed to get everyone to safety, which was when Wattson suggested the use of New Mauville._

Wattson shook his head and hurried off back to Mauville City as fast as his old man legs could carry him. He had to help all he could, even if he was going to be a nuisance while doing it.

---

"Well, that's not good," Pearl mumbled, looking down from where she sat on her Tropius at what she thought was supposed to be Sootopolis City. The city, which was built within a crater in the middle of the ocean, was filling up with water from the rain pouring down.

"Had I known we were going swimming, I would've brought a bathing suit," Nami said, sitting on Winona's Skarmory. Raven and Yellow remained silent from where they sat on Winona's Altaria.

Altaria suddenly squawked and began making movements directed downwards. The five all looked down to where Altaria was trying to make them look at and saw a large, dark shape swimming under the water.

It passed by them quickly before turning around and heading back towards where they were. After they watched the shape for a while, they realized it was circling around Sootopolis City.

"…What is that?" Raven finally asked. None of them responded, either because they didn't know or they didn't want to. It was probably the former.

"Whatever it is, it's going around the city if you haven't noticed," Brendan finally said. "Maybe there's something there that it wants to stay by?"

"Like its favorite restaurant getting ready to have a limited time offer and it doesn't want to miss it?" Raven asked.

Brendan gave her a blank look, although she wasn't looking at him. "…Yeah, like that. Exactly like that," he said and sighed. "Where do you think of these things?"

All of a sudden, the thing underwater stopped moving. Everyone quieted down and watched it carefully. The shape began getting larger and all of the Pokémon began making noises and flying away from it.

"W-what's wrong with you guys?!" Nami asked, holding onto Skarmory tightly as it thrashed about and flew away from it.

A blue shape began rising out of the water and stopped shortly after its bright yellow eyes reached above the water. It sat there and looked up at them, not blinking at all. The Pokémon kept acting up, however, despite the fact that it wasn't moving.

"Please, stop!" Pearl shouted. She then gasped as the thing in the water lifted up its head, opened its mouth…

"Quick, get away!" Pearl ordered. Tropius clumsily tried to fly away from it, although it knocked into Skarmory, who then knocked into Altaria. Well, you probably get it.

A light blue beam shot out of its mouth, making a cracking noise as it rushed towards them and struck them. The entire group crashed into the ocean and the thing retreated back underwater.


	43. Chapter Forty Two

Chapter Forty-Two

Raven's Pichu sat on the end of a bed in a crowded room, with people hurrying around and just about everyone talking loudly. Pichu looked behind himself and at the person lying in the bed, Raven.

"Hey, Pichu, you hungry?"

Pichu looked over to left to see a girl in a Ranger uniform standing next to the bed. He looked back at Raven and shook his head. "No, I'm not. Hitomi, are you _sure_ she's okay?"

"I'm positive!" Hitomi said and put her hand on his head. "Wanna go play with Pachirisu?"

Pichu frowned but nodded anyways. "…Sure, I guess."

And with that, Pichu hopped up onto Hitomi's shoulder and she walked away, moving through the crowd of people quickly.

Raven's eyes slightly opened. Then, as slowly as she possibly could, she slid out of the bed and onto the floor. She then stood up quickly and walked off through the crowd of people.

It appeared as though she was at a hospital of sorts, with beds all over the place, each of them separated by a curtain. Raven continued weaving her way in and out of the people until she reached the front door of the building.

Then she realized it. She was at a Pokémon Center. Raven hadn't a single clue as to why people were being treated in a Pokémon Center but didn't bother to ask anyone.

Raven quickly hurried outside and pressed herself against the wall outside the door of the center. It was rather windy outside and it whipped rain and even hail around. Raven looked up at the sky, seeing dark clouds that were moving quickly south.

Raven hurried around to another side of the Pokémon Center, one where the wind was blocked. Once she was there, she looked around at the place she was at.

It was a city, built in a crater of sorts. She was at the bottom of the city, the rest which went up higher until it reached the top of the crater. Raven felt like she'd seen the place already before…

"…Sootopolis City?" Raven said aloud. "Wait, this place was completely filled with… wait, what? How am I…? Why am I…?"

She stopped talking as she heard a light clinking to her right. Looking over to where a wall was nearby, a red ball rolled off the above level of the city and landed in a pile of rubble.

Seeing as how no one else had apparently seen it, Raven hurried over to the pile and picked up the red ball. It felt like it was made of glass and seemed to glow. The center of it was easily the brightest of it all and Raven could swear that she saw an image beginning to form…

"What're you doing out here?!"

Raven nearly dropped it and she spun around to see Pearl standing outside the Pokémon Center, glaring at her with her arms crossed over her chest. Something seemed different about the way she looked, although it was most noticeable in her hair, which was no longer blue but brown.

"Nothing. What happened to your hair?"

Pearl looked at her hair quickly before glaring back at Raven. "…The water here made my hair turn brown, that's all!"

"Liar."

"Whatever! Come on, get back inside! It's dangerous out here!"

Raven tilted her head. "Really? How is it?"

Just as she said that, a deep rumbling noise was heard and something slammed into the outside wall of the city. Raven screamed, completely forgetting about the red ball, and ran over to Pearl, grabbing onto her tightly. "W-what was that?!"

"I told you that it's dangerous!" Pearl said and pulled Raven back into the Pokémon Center. "And I don't really know what it is either!"

Just then, someone in the Pokémon Center began shouting something and everyone quieted down. Pearl and Raven both looked in the direction of the speaker, waiting for whatever they had to say.

"Well, everyone, as much as we'd like to get all of you out of the city as fast as possible, I'm afraid that it's far too dangerous to even leave," the person said. "Groudon's getting way too close to the city and that blast just now was it attacking from afar."

Everyone began whispering to one another. Pearl looked down at Raven nervously, who also looked worried.

"Steven, if I may?" someone asked. "Right now, the only place even close to being safe is the Cave of Origin and even that place is at danger."

"Right," Steven added. "So the best thing to do would be to move all of you to the Cave of Origin but… Well, for one thing, it's off limits to just about everyone and-"

The other man slapped himself. "Right now, it doesn't matter whether it's off limits or not."

"Right, right… But we'll move you all in small groups, so chances of you getting hurt lessen," Steven continued. "Unfortunately… we've got both Team Magma and Team Aqua in the city right now, so-"

"Steven, you're taking too long with this," the other man interrupted. "Everyone, we'll try to get you all to safety. Don't worry about Team Magma and Aqua, we've got it covered. We've already spoken with the people we'll need to help, so you know who you are! Please go to the back of the Pokémon Center where we'll continue with what we were previously talking about!"

Many women in the crowd began giggling as the man talked and overall were acting like desperate lovesick women. Pearl grabbed Raven's arm and began moving through the crowd to the back.

"Wait, why are we-?" Raven began.

"We're apart of the people helping out!" Pearl said and winked.

"What?! When did I ever hear about this?!"

"Just wait and I'll tell you!" Pearl said and continued moving through the crowd.

Soon enough, they reached the back of the Pokémon Center. Several people were already there in a group, waiting for everyone to gather. Among the people were Brendan, Yellow, Nami, and all of the Gym Leaders.

"So you finally woke up, huh?" Brendan asked as he spotted Pearl and Raven. "I'd call you Sleeping Beauty but, well, you aren't a beauty at all."

"Shut up," Raven grumbled as Pearl stood next to Brendan and finally let go of Raven's arm. Yellow moved to go stand by her and smiled.

"We were all worried about you!" she said. "I'm glad you're okay!"

"Wait, what?" Raven asked and shook her head. "I don't get it! Why were you worried about me?"

Yellow tilted her head. "Oh, Pearl didn't tell you? Well, you've been unconscious for a few days after we got hit by Kyogre's attack… We were unconscious too but we all woke up before you."

"Oh…" Raven mumbled.

At that moment, Steven, along with aforementioned man and Winona, came into the room. "All right everyone!" Winona said, crossing her arms over her chest. "Let's start our plan!"

"Let's start S.O.A Sootopolis!" someone shouted.

"What's that stand for?" Winona asked.

"Save Our Asses in Sootopolis!"

Winona sighed and shook her head. "Don't use a name like that. Just use S.O.S., okay?"

"Fine! Save Our Sand in Sootopolis!"

Winona didn't respond to this at all. "Okay now! First off, I need everyone who's going to be our offensive! Please step forward into a group!"

Several people moved together in a group. "Okay, thank you," Winona said and nodded. "You'll be getting rid of the Team Magma and Aqua members in the city! But I'm warning you right now; if you end up running into either leaders of the teams, do _not_ try to face them!"

The group all nodded, with several of them saluting. They moved off to the side as Winona continued.

"Everyone on defensive, please come forward!"

Yet again, people moved out of the crowd. "Half of you will be protecting the citizens as we move them to the Cave of Origin while the other half needs to watch over the entrance and walls of Sootopolis City!"

Raven watched as the group moved off to stand next to the offensive group. She wondered what group she was in but assumed that Pearl would tell her which one she was in.

"Okay, support group, come on up!" Winona said. "As support, you will be assisting both those on offense and defense. If you see someone needing help, go and support them!"

"I feel like we're playing some kind of game or something…" Raven mumbled. When she looked around, she saw that there were only a few of them left, and they were all people she knew; Tate, Liza, Yellow, Brendan, and Pearl.

"And then there's you guys," Winona said and pointed at them. "Raven, nice to see you're awake. You, Tate, Liza, Yellow, and… where's the fifth kid?"

Steven and the other still unnamed man began looking around until they came back with a green haired boy.

"I-I'm sorry! I couldn't make it back here fast enough…"

"That's okay… Wally, was that your name?" Winona asked and patted his head. "Right. Raven, Tate, Liza, Yellow, and Wally. You five are conveniently the smallest trainers here over the age of 12. You five are extremely important in our plan, you know that?"

"What're we gonna do?" Raven asked.

"I'll explain. You'll be heading to Pacifidlog Town and from there, Sky Pillar. Mr. Briney has volunteered to bring you guys there via boat, since flying is, unfortunately, a bit too dangerous," Winona explained. "Once you're there… Well, don't worry about that! You'll figure it out once you get there!"

"Okay, everyone, let's start!" Winona shouted, raising her arms. "Do your best everyone! Not just for the sake of the city, but for all of Hoenn! S.O.S. Sootopolis… BEGIN!"

Everyone else shouted some form of battle cry and they all began heading to the front of the Pokémon Center. Raven stood there in complete confusion, looking around at everyone.

"Wait a sec! What?! What about Pearl and Brendan? What're they doing? They're not coming with us, are they?!"

"Now, now, be nice," someone said and put their hand on Raven's head. She looked up to see her father standing in front of her, smiling. "Raven, I hate having you do such dangerous things, you know? So please, don't go get yourself hurt."

Raven frowned and took his hand off her head. "Yeah, yeah, I got it," she muttered.

Norman grimaced but turned around, walking away. "I'm on the offensive! Wish me luck!"

"Whatever…" Raven grumbled.

"I'm on the offensive too!" someone else shouted and hugged her from behind. "I wish I was going with you!"

"Nami, get off me!" Raven snapped and tried to escape Nami's hug. "I'm glad you're aren't going with me!"

"Gotta go now!" Nami said and attempted to kiss Raven's cheek. "Bye!"

And with that, Nami skipped away.

Winona walked over to her, watching blankly as Raven was rubbing her cheek. When Raven finally looked up, she began talking.

"Mr. Briney is waiting outside with his boat. You should all get going," Winona said. She then smiled. "You guys, good luck!"


	44. Chapter Forty Three

Author's Notes: I am _so_ proud of all the lame chapter titles I created. I'm serious though, they're all so cheesy that I'm thinking about changing them back... |D

* * *

Chapter Forty-Three

Outside the Pokémon Center, Mr. Briney was waiting in a boat, which was probably the same one he used when he had brought Raven, Brendan, and Pearl to Dewford Town. Peeko sat on top of his head before flying off to land on Raven's head as she left the Pokémon Center.

"Oh," Raven began and looked up at the Wingull. "It's _you_."

"Peeko!" the Pokémon screeched and refused to move off her head.

"Looks like it likes you, huh?" Liza asked as she followed with Tate, Yellow, Wally, Brendan, and Pearl behind her.

"I don't know what it wants!" Raven grumbled and began walking towards Mr. Briney's boat. Despite the strong wind, Peeko was still perched on her head, unmoving. Had the current situation not been as serious as it was, people would probably be laughing at the sight.

"Everyone have their Pokémon?" Pearl asked and they all nodded. "Okay! Let's go!"

Once they got to the boat, Mr. Briney waved at them from where he was waiting on the side. "Welcome to Mr. Briney's Boating Service! How can I help you?"

"Get your bird off my head," Raven answered.

"Aw, but Peeko just wants to show her love for you!" Mr. Briney said and held his arm out. Peeko flew off her head and landed on his arm. "Anyways, we'll all be in captain's room! Far too dangerous to be sitting outside on the boat."

As the group began getting in the boat, several people came behind them. "Stop right there! We aren't going to let you guys go so quickly!"

"Excuse me?" Pearl asked and looked behind herself to see four Team Magma members and four Team Aqua members standing there. "Uh… You're gonna try to stop us?"

"Yeah! Totally!"

Pearl looked back at the others, who all shrugged. "Fine then," Pearl said and threw two Poké Balls in the air. "Minun, use Thunder Wave! Tropius, Whirlwind!"

Once Minun came us, she shot a bolt of electricity at them. Once it struck them, her Tropius began flapping its wings in their direction until it became strong enough to lift the eight up in the air and toss them in the opposite direction.

"Return!" Pearl called and the two Pokémon retreated back to their Poké Balls. She climbed over the side of the boat and hurried into the room where they were all in, and where Mr. Briney was going to control the boat. "Problem taken care of!"

"Good job!" Liza said and Pearl laughed sheepishly.

"Oh, it's nothing, really…"

"Okay, startin' up the boat!" Mr. Briney said and the boat began making noises before it lurched forward. While going slow at first, it eventually got faster and they headed in the direction of the entrance (and exit) of Sootopolis City.

The entrance was simply a hole in the wall of the city, opened up to be big enough for boats to pass through. As the boat moved through the small, cave-like area, rumbling noises were heard from above.

"Ohh…" Wally whined and sat on the floor, covering his head. "I-I'm scared…"

"No worries, Wally!" Raven said and sat next to him, putting her arm around his shoulders. "Everything'll be okay!"

At this, the boat went over a particularly large wave in the ocean. Raven covered her mouth and made a noise, turning away from Wally.

"S-sorry Wally. I get sea sick…"

Wally shook his head. "N-no… It's okay. Um, but are you okay…?"

Yellow sighed from where she sat on a bench in the room, which was also covered with bags, fishing rods, and other weird things. "I wonder why we're the ones going to Sky Pillar… Why'd Winona want the five smallest trainers?"

"Beats me…" Tate muttered. "I wonder what's at Sky Pillar that we need to go there for…"

"Excuse me for interrupting…" Mr. Briney said from where he was steering the boat. "But I've heard that there's a Pokémon that sleeps at the top of Sky Pillar. I don't quite remember it's name… Rayquaza, that might've been it. But it's one of those legendary Pokémon, much like Kyogre and Groudon."

"Are you serious?!" Brendan asked.

Mr. Briney nodded. "Yep. A couple of sailing mates of mine used to tell me about it. I do believe that it was the Pokémon that put a stop to the fighting of Kyogre and Groudon a real long time ago. Made them calm down and go to sleep for all these years."

Everyone else was now listening intently to everything Mr. Briney was telling them. "Now, you kids are familiar with the fact that the Red and Blue Orbs were what controlled Groudon and Kyogre? Those orbs were created when Rayquaza calmed them down, and they've been kept at Mt. Pyre for safekeeping. So when those two teams went and stole the orbs, they'd have to go to the location Kyogre and Groudon were sleeping at with those orbs to wake them up."

"And those orbs control the two, right?" Yellow asked.

"That's correct. The two can be controlled by the orbs should they be in the hands of someone capable of giving commands. Once the two are awake, they'll both be intent on finding the other so as to get rid of them."

"Makes no sense why'd they'd want to go kill each other," Tate muttered. "It's weird how they'll both try to find each other…"

"Isn't it?" Mr. Briney asked and began laughing. "They both just can't stand each other, I suppose."

No one said anything, but rather listening to the sound of the waves crashing against the boat and the rain now beginning to pound on the roof as well.

"So…" Tate began slowly and rubbed the back of his head. "Um… anyone got anything to talk about?"

"W-well…" Wally said and began tapping his index fingers together. "A couple of days ago… My Vibrava evolved into Flygon!"

"Way to go, Wally!" Raven shouted and smacked his back. "That's my buddy! Raising his Pokémon so well!"

"I-it's nothing…" Wally stammered. "That Ralts you helped me catch… she's a Gardevoir now…"

"Oh, you have a Gardevoir?" Liza asked. "That's so cool!"

"Raven helped you catch a Pokémon?!" Brendan asked in surprise. "She did something for someone other than herself?! This is a scientific breakthrough!"

"Shut up," Raven muttered and began patting Wally's head. "Wally's a good boy."

Wally was clearly becoming embarrassed, his face becoming red and he was looking around nervously. Everyone else was laughing at something Brendan just said and therefore didn't notice him.

All of a sudden, Peeko, who'd been sitting on Mr. Briney's head the entire time, began squawking and flying around the room recklessly. "Peeko? Peeko, darling, what's wrong?" Mr. Briney shouted.

"Hey, what's with the Wingull?!" Tate asked and ducked as Peeko fly towards his head.

"A wild Wingull appeared!" Raven shouted.

"Someone catch her!"

"Wild Wingull is confused!"

"Raven, shut your mouth!"

"Wild Wingull used Fly! But it hurt itself in its confusion!"

"Raven, I said shut your mouth!"

Meanwhile, Mr. Briney was trying to concentrate on steering the boat, although he was having a hard time due to Peeko flying in front of his face and squawking as though she was out of her mind.

"Peeko! Relax, will ya?!" Raven shouted and jumped up to try to catch her.

Peeko screeched and pecked at her hands.

"Wait a moment!" Pearl said and took off her jacket. Pearl reached up and brought the jacket down on Peeko, trying to keep her under the coat.

"There's something wrong with the boat!" Mr. Briney shouted. "I can't move the wheel at all!"

Tate and Liza hurried over to where Mr. Briney was trying to move the wheel. They each grabbed a side of the wheel and tried to turn it. Meanwhile, Peeko was still having a fit under Pearl's jacket, screeching and beginning to tear it.

The boat went up and then down continuously, causing Raven to become even more seasick than she should've been allowed to. Wally put his arm around Raven and tried to keep her from moving as the boat moved around viciously.

All of a sudden, the boat tipped backwards and they all slammed into the back of the room, the door there luckily not opening when some of them slammed against it. The boat continued moving, now without a driver, before it suddenly slowed down. The boat slowed down to a gentle rocking before it hit something in front of it and came to a complete stop.

Peeko had calmed down and flew around slowly before landing on Raven's head. "Peeko."

Mr. Briney grumbled as he tried to push himself up. "Are all of you kids okay?"

"I think so…" Liza said and slowly sat up. "What happened?"

"I haven't a single idea…" Mr. Briney said and tried to stand up. "I think I might've hurt my back though…"

Yellow quickly fixed her hat before anyone could notice her ponytail that fell out. "That was really weird…"

"Peeeeko," said Wingull and didn't move from her perch on Raven's head. Or, to be specific, Raven's forehead.

"Can someone get this bird off of me?!" she snapped.

No one listened to her but rather began helping each other stand up. Wally had begun to breath oddly and had taken out an inhaler, using it occasionally.

"You okay?" Yellow asked and pulled Raven up.

"Well, I've had better days," she answered. Peeko was still on her forehead, now looking like some kind of mask. Except, well, she wasn't a mask.

Pearl and Brendan helped Mr. Briney keep his balance as Tate opened up the door, heading out onto the boat. "…Where the heck are we?"

The others followed outside, the same question entering their heads. Wherever they were, it was bright and sunny outside. Looking over to where the boat had crashed, they saw that it crashed into a beach. Up ahead were trees stretching on and on.

It didn't seem quite right considering where they had just been.

"Welcome!" a man's voice called from somewhere. They all looked to the left to see a man standing there in a blue jacket. He had some kind of tiny mustache on his face and had black hair, with two white pieces sticking up at the right side of his head.

"Welcome to where?!" Raven shouted, her voice muffled by Peeko's feathers. "Where are we?!"

"Mirage Island, that's where," the man answered. "Let's do introduces first, shall we? My name's Juan and it's a pleasure to be acquainted with you all."

Peeko flew off Raven's face and landed on Juan's head. "Peeko."


	45. Chapter Forty Four

Author's Notes: I totally stole the Mirage Island thing from Pokemon Special. Although my version of it (as well as my portrayal of Juan) are completely different.

* * *

Chapter Forty-Four

"Wait a sec, your name's Juan?" Tate asked and looked over at his sister. "Liza, do you think this guy is-?"

Liza nodded. "Mr. Juan, are you the Gym Leader of Sootopolis City?"

"Well, I was," Juan answered. "Speaking of, did they replace me with another leader yet?"

"What the-?!" Brendan began and pointed at Juan. "What kind of Gym Leader leaves his Gym and… just stays on an island and doesn't tell anyone where he's been?"

"Not just any island. _Mirage_ Island," Juan corrected. "I left a note for them, so it's fine. Anyways, going on with-"

"What's a 'Mirage Island'?" Raven asked.

"I guess it's an island… That's a mirage!" Tate answered. And he wasn't even being sarcastic about his answer.

Juan looked over to where Pearl and Brendan were holding Mr. Briney up. "Oh, are you injured, sir?"

"Just threw out my back is all!" Mr. Briney answered and started laughing. "Never in any of my years as a sailor have I ever experienced a boat ride like that!"

Juan made a motion for them to follow him and began walking away. "Follow me now! I'll show you camp and then I'll explain everything there!"

"Camp? What the heck's this guy talking about?" Brendan asked as they all began following Juan, not really caring that the entire situation was far more stranger than it should've been.

---

"Chances are, you ended up on Mirage Island because you entered the space that led here. You see, Mirage Island isn't exactly a place that you can put on a map; it's always moving. Along with the fact that it's always moving, the area the island is in is invisible and can only be entered should someone be able to break through the space that brings them here."

"Wait, what? I don't understand."

"Also, time here flows differently because of it. Sometimes it goes slower than the time you're all used to and sometimes it goes faster. For example, right now it's going slower; 1 day here is equal to about 3 days in the world you're used to."

"What?! Are you kidding?!"

Juan shook his head and took a sip of who-knows-what before continuing. "And sometimes it quickens and 1 day here would be about 1 hour in the other world. It's when the times start switching that an opening appears and that someone could enter or exit."

"But wait a second!" Liza interrupted. "This is really bad! Right now Hoenn's in a crisis and we're supposed to be heading to the Sky Pillar to do something there to stop it!"

Juan had a confused look upon his face. "A crisis? Such as…?"

"Team Aqua and Magma woke up Groudon and Kyogre and now they're both fighting!"

"I see…" Juan mumbled. "I thought I was only feeling things when that opening appeared… And so, I would assume that you were going to wake up Rayquaza to have it stop the fighting between the two?"

"We… don't really know what we're supposed to do…"

"Well, that's rather unfortunate then that you came through the opening…" Juan said and sighed. "Unfortunately, there's no way to get out of here until another opening appears and I don't know when that'll happen. It's always random."

"Noooo!" Tate shouted and fell off the rock he was sitting on. "This is terrible!"

Pearl was muttering to herself while Tate whined and, soon after he started, Raven joined him. "So if we're stuck here for 3 days, then that means that 9 days have passed out there?"

"Correct," Juan said. "Would you like a drink?"

"I'm not drinking nothing if I don't know what it is," Raven chimed in. Juan and Pearl ignored her.

"S-so…" Wally began nervously, pulling his knees up to his chest and hugging them tightly. "What're we supposed to do here?"

Juan shrugged. "Whatever you'd like. Play games, do nothing, see who loses their sanity first and kills someone…"

"Wow, thanks for being so specific," Brendan said and rolled his eyes.

"Well, I think we should let all of our Pokémon out so they can have fun!" Liza suggested and stood up, taking two Poké Balls out of her pocket. "Solrock and Baltoy, go!" she shouted and let out a large, sun shaped rock Pokémon and a small tan Pokémon that looked like a top.

"Sounds fine with me!" Tate agreed and sat up, throwing two Poké Balls in the air and letting another Baltoy and a Pokémon that was the same size as Solrock, but shaped like a moon and was a yellow color.

Wally stood up, taking out his own Poké Balls. "Gardevoir, Roselia, Flygon, and Kecleon!" Four Pokémon that each had some kind of green color on them came out, starting with a tall white Pokémon with a green head, then a tiny green Pokémon with roses on its hands, a large dragon Pokémon that looked like it had red goggles on, and a green lizard Pokémon with a red zigzag stripe across its stomach.

The smallest Pokémon, the one with the roses, turned to look at Wally. "Are you okay?" it asked quietly and Wally nodded.

"I'm fine, Roselia!"

Brendan watched Wally's Pokémon before letting out his only two Pokémon, Grovyle and Swampert. The two quickly looked at each other before looking away, both apparently angry at each other for something.

Raven sighed. "I guess I have to let out my Pokémon too…" she muttered. "Piplup, Cherrim, Guru-n, Chao, Magnemite, and Pichu!" Said Pokémon all came out of their Poké Balls and looked around curiously at the place we were at.

"…What the heck?" Piplup asked and looked back at her. "Where are we?!"

Unfortunately for Piplup, Juan was all too willing to re-explain everything to him. And did so.

Yellow tossed her own Poké Balls in the air, letting out her Pokémon. Finally, Pearl was the only one who hadn't let out her Pokémon. She sighed and took out three Poké Balls, letting out Minun, Bellossom, and Tropius.

"So these are everyone's beautiful Pokémon?" Juan asked, temporarily stopping his torture-… explanation to Piplup. "They're all very well raised! I applaud your abilities to become such good friends with them!"

"Are you serious?" Raven asked and swatted away Peeko, who was making a beeline towards her head from where Mr. Briney had been laying down the entire time. "You make it sound like it's hard."

"Well, some people have problems forming friendships with their Pokémon," Juan said. "Sometimes they can't stand it anymore and even abandon the Pokémon."

Yellow frowned. "But that's terrible!"

"It is indeed, isn't it?" Juan asked and nodded.

Tate suddenly raised his hand. "Excuse me, I have a question!" Juan looked at him and nodded, so Tate continued. Tate proceeded to point at Cherrim, who was spinning around happily. "What is _wrong_ with that Pokémon?!"

"He's just happy," Raven answered and put her hand on Cherrim's head. "Right Cherrim?"

Cherrim paused for a moment. "Well, I thought I was, but that was before I got life insurance! Now I have no worries at all! Why I-"

Raven let go of Cherrim, who continued spinning around and talking so fast that it was impossible to make out any of the words he said.

"Well, I'm sure someone dropped him on his head when he was a baby."

"I have an idea!" Juan suddenly said and everyone jumped, either because of his sudden outburst or because of his loudness. It was probably both.

"Seeing as how you're all Pokémon trainers, maybe we'll all do some training tomorrow, what do you say? Since we'll have nothing else to do until another opening appears…"

"I guess so…" Brendan said and looked as his Pokémon. "What do you guys say about training tomorrow?"

"Fine with me," Swampert answered.

"Same here," Grovyle answered. "As long as that idiot isn't there."

"Oh, what, you're picking a fight with me again?! Is that what you're doing?!"

"Maybe I am, what're you gonna do about it, huh?! Squirt me with a little water?!"

No one said anything and rather watched Grovyle and Swampert argue. Sooner or later, they both quit their arguing and sat with their backs towards each other.

"Anyways..." Juan started slowly, looking at the two Pokémon carefully. "We should hope that those fighting in Hoenn can hold back the powers of Groudon and Kyogre, should we not?"


	46. Chapter Forty Five

Author's Notes: Team Magma and Aqua are about as fearsome as my Pokémon dolls.

* * *

Chapter Forty-Five

With a sigh, Brawly leaned against a wall and sat down on the ground. "Man, it's hot out here..." His Pokémon, a purple Pokémon with muscles, sat down next to him, nodding in agreement.

"Well, I wonder why?" Roxanne answered sarcastically and rolled her eyes. She then reached up to her forehead and ran her hand across it. "But, yes, it is hot outside."

Roxanne looked down from where she stood at one of the top levels of Sootopolis City. Seeing several Team Magma members running somewhere on one of the lower levels, she raised her hand towards her own Pokémon.

"Graveler, block their path!" she shouted and her Pokémon slammed its arm onto the ground, breaking it into large chunks which it then pushed over the edge. The chunks crashed in front of them, stopping them from running.

"I'm wondering..." Brawly began, watching Roxanne with a blank look. "Shouldn't we really be trying to stop Kyogre and Groudon rather than stopping Team Magma and Aqua?"

"Well, yes," Roxanne answered. "But they're probably just aggravating the two, you know?... But I guess, yeah, we should be trying to... wait, am I letting myself listen to _you_, of all people?!"

Brawly and his Pokémon both began laughing quietly as Roxanne began talking to herself. She suddenly spun around and marched towards him angrily. Grabbing onto his arm, she pulled (or tried to) him up.

"Come on, we need to continue!"

"But I don't see anyone around to stop, so let's just take a rest until we spot some?"

Roxanne sighed and looked over her shoulder, where she could spot Norman running across the uneven ground of the city. Seeing as how he was running in their direction, Roxanne got the feeling that he was headed towards them intentionally.

"What's wrong?" she asked as soon as Norman reached them.

"Over there!" Norman shouted and pointed in a certain direction. "Those Aqua members, going towards Groudon!"

Sure enough, a group of about nine Team Aqua members were hurrying over to where Groudon stood outside the wall of Sootopolis, trying to attack the air-borne Kyogre.

"Leave it to me!" Brawly said and let out one of his Pokémon. "Riolu, Aura Sphere!"

Brawly's Riolu quickly jumped towards a wall, kicking off of it and flying into the air. He put his arms in front of himself, which quickly began forming a blue ball of energy in front of them, before raising his arms above his head and tossing the energy ball in the direction of the villains.

The ball crashed in front of them, breaking the ground and causing some of them to nearly fall off of it. Riolu landed onto a rooftop before starting to jump back up to be back at his trainer's side.

Roxanne grinned as she watched the Team Aqua members all slam into each other and hurry back away from the broken ledge. She looked up at Groudon, however, and suddenly stepped forward.

"Riolu, watch out!"

Riolu looked at Roxanne quickly before looking back at Groudon. The giant Pokémon shot a beam from its mouth, crashing into Riolu and destroying the houses and ground around him.

The three all sighed in relieve as a bird Pokémon flew out of the dust with Riolu on its back. The two Pokémon were both injured from Groudon's blast, although not nearly as bad as they could've been.

Riolu jumped off the bird's back, the latter proceeding to land atop Riolu's head. Brawly looked at the Pokémon, a light blue Pokémon with fluffy white wings, before looking off across the city.

"This is Winona's Swablu, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Roxanne answered and reached into her pocket, handing both Pokémon a berry.

Norman looked up at the sky, where Kyogre just flew past them towards Groudon, delivering a blow to the back of Groudon's head. In turn, Groudon turned back and slashed out at Kyogre's wing.

"It's been almost four days since Raven and the others left. Don't you think they might've reached Sky Pillar yet?" he asked.

"Relax," Roxanne said and smiled reassuringly. "I know you're worried since she's your kid. It takes a while to get from Sootopolis to Pacidfidlog by boat, you know?"

Norman smiled back at her, although it seemed strained. "It's not just because she's my kid. The sooner they get to Rayquaza the sooner this will all end."

Brawly put his hands on both of their shoulders. "Sorry to interrupt your conversation," he said and pointed in the direction Norman had come to them from. "But what's that guy doing?"

They both turned around to see a man with a dark blue bandana standing at the other end of the city and not very far from where the three stood. "Attention to all of Team Aqua!"

Several people below stopped to look up at him and he continued.

"Change of plans everyone!" he announced and held up a blue orb in his hand. "Our alliance with Team Magma is over! From here on, treat them as your enemies!" He paused his talking and looked at the orb in his hand, tossing it back and forth.

"Oh, wait? You're all looking at this?" he questioned and looked at the orb with false curiosity. "Why, I wonder what it could be?"

He sneered at everyone. "Perhaps it might be the item I need to control Kyogre with?"

All of a sudden, Roxanne bolted off in the direction of the man. "Roxanne!" Brawly shouted. "Winona told us not to-"

"Screw what Winona said!" Roxanne snapped. The man noticed Roxanne hurrying over to him and smirked.

"And what might you be trying to do, little girl?"

Roxanne jumped off the level of the city where she was, landing on the place where the man and several other Team Aqua members stood. She then lunged at him, reaching up and trying to grab the orb.

He held it up higher, watching Roxanne try to grab it with an amused look on his face. "Did you seriously think you could get this from me by doing a stunt like that?" At that, he grabbed Roxanne's shoulder and pulled her away from himself. "Let's see where all that determination goes now, shall we?"

Roxanne barely had enough time to realize that she wasn't on ground anymore as she began falling from the edge and down into the city below. She couldn't even realize what exactly was happening, seeing the place where she just stood get farther and farther away.

She felt herself land onto something not necessarily hard, but not soft either. Roxanne looked to her right slowly and saw something blue underneath her…

"Kyogre!" the man shouted and held the orb up in the air. "I, Archie, am now your commander! Together, you and I shall…"

Suddenly, the orb tipped out of his hands and fell below, making light clinking noises as it landed somewhere into the rubble of the city.

"It's a free-for-all!" someone shouted. "LET'S GO GET IT!"

Archie stood where he was, a dumbfounded expression on his face as he realized that he just dropped the orb. Seeing everyone hurry towards its location, he, too, joined in and hurried down to find it.

"Roxanne, are you all right?"

Roxanne sat up from where she was, looking behind herself and at the black jacket of an old man, who stared forward. She nodded and, after realizing that he couldn't see her nodding, quickly answered with a "Yes"

"Good, good," he said and pointed below. Roxanne saw that she was on a blue, dragon Pokémon and hurried to look over the side. "You're lucky that I was able to catch you right then or they might've had to find a new Gym Leader to take your place."

Roxanne gulped as she realized what the man meant. "Y-yeah, guess so…"

The Pokémon they were flying on began to fly downwards back to the city. Roxanne watched as groups of people began heading towards a certain direction in the city and started wondering what they were all doing.

Back down there, Brawly's Riolu hopped down the ledges of the city and landed near the blue orb, which lay on the ground without a single scratch on it. All of a sudden, Archie fell from above and crashed down to the place where Riolu was. He sat up and the two glared at each other, both on opposite sides of the blue orb.

Archie suddenly barked at Riolu, making him jump back in surprise. He then reached out and grabbed the orb, standing up and cackling loudly.

"A free-for-all no more!" he shouted. "Because I have the orb, again!"

The orb began glowing and suddenly sunk into Archie's hand. He blinked in surprise before suddenly stumbling backwards and crashing into a wall. Riolu watched as the man started cringing in pain and jumped back when he suddenly threw his arm back into a wall.

Archie gained a crazy grin across his face as he slowly looked over at Riolu, who proceeded to do the smartest thing and began running from him. Archie tilted his head as he watched the small blue Pokémon run off.

"Now, what's wrong? Don't tell me you're afraid of little ol' Archie, are you?" he asked and removed his hand from the wall, clenching it into a fist as strange patterns appeared on the back of it. "Now, this is where your 'crisis' really begins..."


	47. Chapter Forty Six

Author's Notes: ...This chapter's a bit longer than usual. In fact, the chapters after this one are probably gonna be longer than the other ones have been since I just... type away. :D

* * *

Chapter Forty-Six

"Over here!"

Brendan quickly hurried to stand behind one of the many trees on Mirage Island, Swampert and Grovyle following closely behind. The three all leaned against the tree and tried to catch their breath, Brendan occasionally looking out from behind the tree to see if anyone was there.

"This isn't training!" Swampert whined. "It's torture!"

"Stop whining!" Grovyle snapped. "A little exercise once in a while doesn't hurt!"

"You call this exercise?! Yeah, let's exercise our want to get off this island ALIVE!"

Brendan turned towards them with a finger over his mouth and the two quickly quieted down. Brendan looked out behind the tree yet again, looking around the area for anyone in sight.

"What're you doing?"

Brendan nearly screamed as he looked behind himself to see Raven standing there. He sighed and narrowed his eyes at her. "You scared the heck out of me!"

"So?" Raven asked and looked around. "Say, you haven't seen… _him_ anywhere, have you?"

"No," Brendan muttered. "If I had, I would've told you to go somewhere where you could easily get tagged."

Raven pouted. "Jerk. Anyways, let me stay with you, okay?"

"No."

A flapping noise was heard from somewhere in the trees and the group all froze, looking up at them as though they expected some monster to come out. However, no monster came out and instead, Peeko came flying towards them.

And perched on Raven's head.

"Peeeeeeeeko."

"Go away, you stupid bird!" Raven snapped and swatted her hand at Peeko. Peeko didn't move at all.

A rustling sound was heard before Juan stepped out from behind the trees. "Oh, look who I found?"

"_You_ led him here, didn't you?!" Raven screamed at Peeko.

"Peeeeeko."

Juan lifted his arm and a small, heart shaped Pokémon hopped out from behind him. It opened its mouth and sprayed Raven with water, leaving her soaked and annoyed. Brendan covered his mouth and began laughing quietly while Swampert began laughing loudly and Grovyle simply shook his head.

"So, the winner of the survival game is Brendan and his Pokémon, Swampert and Grovyle!" Juan announced.

Over on the beach sat the others and their Pokémon and they all began clapping. Juan, Brendan, Raven, Swampert, and Grovyle all came out from the trees and went over to where the group sat on logs, which seemed very out of place on a beach.

"Stupid bird…" Raven muttered and sat down next to Yellow. She started swatting at Peeko, who was still on her head.

"Bravo everyone, good job!" Juan applauded and clapped his hands. "Now I say it's time we take a break, correct?"

"Yay!" Raven shouted and threw her arms in the air. She then looked to her right, where all her Pokémon sat on the beach with their backs towards her. "Aw, come on, guys! You aren't still angry, are you? It was survival training; I wanted to survive!"

"Is that what everyone's angry about?" Cherrim asked and turned around. "They just told me to do that, so I did."

As Raven held out her arms and Cherrim started running towards her gaily, Juan began talking, completely oblivious to them. "I'm surprised how well you've all done so far! When I first had Wallace do the same exercises, why, he couldn't do them at all!"

"That's right…" Tate muttered. "You were Wallace's teacher, weren't you?"

"Correct!" Juan answered. "It's always funny how the students often surpass their teachers, isn't it…?"

"I remember that my own teacher told me that as well!" Mr. Briney said and nodded. "He taught me everything I know about sailing, the ocean, all of that!"

Raven nudged Yellow in the side and leaned over to her. "The old men are getting in a conversation about teachers! What's this world come to?!"

"Old?" Juan asked. "I'll have you know that I'm only in my 40s!"

Raven crossed her arms. "Oh yeah? Well to me, that's ancient!"

"On another note, how well to you all trust each other?" Juan asked, clearly dropping the current subject and changing it, much to Raven's dislike.

They all looked at one another and shrugged. "We trust each other."

"So, you could easily tell each other secrets that you'd never tell anyone else?"

"What is this, some kind of-"

"Tate!" Juan said and pointed at him. "Tell everyone a secret!"

Tate nodded. "When I was younger, my parents used to dress me up like a girl!"

"Good job!" Juan said happily. "…Wait, what?"

"Well, my sister did that to me too," Brendan chimed in and put a hand on Tate's shoulder. "…Truth be told, she still does."

Pearl glared at him. "I do not! What makes you think that I'd do something weird like that?"

"'Cause you're-"

"Brendan, don't you dare!"

Juan stood up and clapped his hands, making them all quiet down. "Enough! Now, let's get on with our training, shall we? How fast can everyone react to a sudden attack?"

He quickly let out one of his Pokémon, a large, blue seahorse Pokémon with a small pair of wings on its back. A light blue beam shot out of its mouth, cracking loudly as it headed in Raven's direction.

All of Raven's Pokémon were suddenly alert, Guru-n being the first to move. He quickly moved in front of her with his arms in front of himself. Magnemite and Pichu both shot electricity out of their bodies and at the beam, sending electricity down the beam and back at the Pokémon that first shot it.

Juan's Pokémon was, much to Juan's surprise, electrocuted. Once the electricity disappeared, it shook its head, seeming only a little stunned by the attack.

Juan was speechless for a moment. "Well, I wasn't expecting that at all. I must say, your Pokémon's teamwork is quite good."

"What the heck did you attack me for?!" Raven screeched, she herself a little shocked, but only about Juan's attacking. "Was it 'cause I called you old?! Was it?"

"No, but I should get an attack in for that, shouldn't I? Kingdra, use-"

"I was kidding!"

"Ah, but I wasn't! Like I was saying, Kingdra, use Ice Beam!"

The Pokémon, Kingdra, shot another beam out of its mouth. This time Piplup stepped forward and began spinning around, creating a whirlpool. He tossed it in the path of the ice beam, which actually froze the entire water twister.

"Guru-n, break the whirlpool!" Raven shouted. "Chao, use Psychic!"

Guru-n ran towards the ice and quickly, with the blades on his arms, broke it into large chunks. Chao lifted her arms and made a tossing movement, causing all the chunks to begin flying forward.

Juan and his Pokémon both ducked down, watching all the ice chunks fly over them and strike the trees behind. Much to Juan's horror, the chunks had flown quite deep into the tree trunks…

Hearing clapping, Juan looked over to see that Yellow had started clapping. In a quick moment, both Tate and Liza, as well as Wally, Pearl, and Mr. Briney, started to clap as well. In fact, everyone was clapping except for Brendan, who looked rather unimpressed.

"That was so cool!" Wally said in awe. "You guys were great!"

"Were we?" Guru-n asked sheepishly. "I don't think it's anything real great…"

"No, no, don't put yourself down, Guru-n," Juan said, still lying in the sand and looking back at the trees. "Your teamwork was enough to kill me… And I mean literally kill me…"

---

Night had, in someway or another, fallen on Mirage Island. Everyone sat around eating food (no one really understood _where_ Juan got the food and they probably didn't want to find out) and talking with each other.

"You know, I was wondering something," Raven began and reached out to pat Wally's head. "Wally, why were you in Sootopolis City? I didn't think you'd have enough strength to come all the way here…"

"W-well…" Wally began and started drawing shapes in the sand. "I… got sent there."

"How come?" asked Yellow.

Wally pulled his legs up to his chest. "Raven, you remember when Wattson gave you that Pokémon egg, right? Well, I don't know if you noticed, but I was really sick then…"

Raven tilted her head. "…I'm sorry, I didn't notice."

Wally shrugged. "It's fine if you didn't… Anyways, it got really bad and my relatives sent me to a hospital in Sootopolis City. I've been getting better since I came there, 'cause they're having me go through treatment…"

Tate, Liza, Pearl, and Brendan all listened to Wally silently, all four lying on their backs and looking up at the stars. Raven, Wally, and Yellow were all sitting up, also looking at the stars.

"…You've been through a lot, haven't you?"

"What?!" Wally exclaimed and immediately became flustered by the comment that Raven had just made. "N-no, not really… I mean, I'm sure you've been through much more, right?"

Raven frowned. "No."

Wally mumbled a few things and fidgeted around before becoming quiet and continuing to draw shapes in the sand.

"…I hate this."

The other six all looked over at Raven, who had laid down in the sand and was covering her face with her arms. "What?"

"I hate not being able to help, to do anything when I could do something. Right now, we don't even know if Hoenn's been completely destroyed yet. We're supposed to be going to Sky Pillar, but instead here we are lounging on a beach while who-knows-what is going on. It's even worse that time is slower here and… And…"

"Will you stop whining?!" Brendan suddenly snapped. "You're so annoying! All the time, whining or saying stupid things! You're saying that_ you_ could help stop Groudon and Kyogre? The most you'd be able to do is, I dunno, maybe piss them off more?"

Raven uncovered her face and glared at him. Pearl was also glaring at him, while the remaining four just looked between the two. "Go on, I dare you."

"Did I ask for your permission to continue?!" he snapped. "I swear, every day I've been with you, all you've done is insult me, start fights with me, just everything! You know, sometimes I wonder why I even care when you do dangerous things, 'cause I know that what I really want is for you to just disappear! You know how much easier things would be without you here?!"

"You guys, you should stop fighting…" Yellow said, putting her hands up and waving them around. "It's not good if-"

"You don't deserve anything you've gotten at all! Badges, Pokémon, even friends! You never did anything, never worked for any of it!" Brendan continued. "Have you ever considered me a friend? You shouldn't, because I'm not!"

"Brendan, that's enough!" Pearl shouted. None of them said anything, Brendan glaring at the sand, Pearl glaring at him, and Raven just staring at the ground. Raven suddenly stood up and walked away quickly, fists clenched tightly.

The other four all looked at each other with worried expressions, no one knowing what to say. All of them looked up, however, when they saw Juan heading towards them.

"Is everything all right? I heard shouting…"

"W-well, Raven and Brendan were just fighting, that's all," Wally answered.

Juan quickly glanced at Brendan before clapping his hands together. "Well, I say it's about time that we all get some shut eye, right? Come on everyone, let's go!"

They all stood up and followed Juan back into the trees, heading to where Juan's "camp" was. To their surprise, Raven was already there, lying in a sleeping bag. Yellow headed to her own sleeping bag, which was right next to Raven's, and laid in it, leaning over and whispering something to her. Everyone got into their own sleeping bags and everyone soon fell asleep.

Well, almost everyone. Once everything was quiet, except for a small fire that was in the middle of the camp, Juan slowly got up and walked over to where Raven and Yellow were. He bent down and gently picked up Raven's hand, looking at it carefully before standing up and walked away from the camp.

He suddenly stopped, however, as he heard the sound of someone following him. "…Yes?"

"What were you doing?" Brendan's voice asked. "What were you doing over by Raven and Yellow?"

"Nothing, really. I wanted to make sure they were both asleep."

"And not check on everyone else? Yeah right."

Juan turned around, looking back at a rather angry looking Brendan. "…Do you really want to know what I was doing?"

"What do you think?!" Brendan asked. "Of course I want to know!"

Juan let out a sigh. "It's Raven. You may or may not have noticed, but the patterns on the back of her right hand…"

Brendan blinked in surprise. Patterns?

"It would appear as though, somehow, she absorbed the Red Orb, the one used for controlling Groudon. I don't know how or when, but she did."

"Are you serious?"

"Do I look like I'm joking?"

Brendan looked back at where Raven and Yellow were sleeping. "…So what's that mean?"

"That orb could easily take control of her, making her…" Juan said and tapped his chin. "A bit more crazier than usual. Oh, and maybe a tad bit insane."

"Please don't joke around!"

Juan held his hands up in defense. "I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself. But, all joking aside, what I just said was true. The orb can and most likely will do so. In fact," Juan paused and pointed at Raven. "I wouldn't be surprised your fighting with her earlier was caused by the orb trying to do that."

"Uh…" Brendan quickly thought back to earlier. Now that he thought about it, he had been the one to start that argument with her by losing his own temper but… "Yeah, I guess it was."

"Is that so…?" Juan muttered. "Well, Brendan, I have a question for you. Did Raven deserve to become a… What word should I use? Host? Controller? Let's use the term holder, shall we? Did she deserve to become a holder of that orb?"

Brendan looked down at the ground. "Ah, so you heard that part, didn't you?"

"Actually, your entire conversation. But anyways, I'll continue," Juan said and ignored the rather stunned look he was getting from Brendan. "The orbs are capable of controlling and calming both legendary Pokémon and, usually, they'll search for something capable of absorbing them so such powers can be used.

"However, depending on the holder, they can either control the Pokémon or be controlled by the Pokémon. Should the latter happen, the holder usually loses all sanity and becomes just like the Pokémon; an enraged, destructive being."

"Well, how can someone _not_ be controlled by the Pokémon?"

Juan tapped his chin. "I suppose it depend on the person's state of mind. For example, let's pretend that Wally had absorbed the orb, shall we? Now, it's quite obvious that Wally is extremely timid and probably listens to anything that anyone tells him to do because he can't bring himself to tell them no. He would probably be controlled easily."

Then Juan motioned to Raven. "However, seeing as how she hasn't become like that, I would assume that it's because her mind isn't weak. She can easily say no to anyone who demands her to do something and probably doesn't let anyone control her, am I right?"

Brendan nodded. "So you mean that she probably won't be controlled by Groudon?"

"I was just getting to that part. Eventually, anyone holding the orb in their body will become controlled by it. If the orb is left in their body for long periods of time without being sent out, the person just slowly becomes controlled. Even the strongest person could only have the orb in their body for about 3 or 4 days before they get controlled."

"One more thing."

"Yes?"

"How in the world do you know all of this?"

Juan started laughing. "Sorry, but that's a secret!"

Brendan frowned and muttered something under his breath. "Well… I'm gonna go to bed now…"

Juan watched as Brendan hurried back to the camp before sighing and looking out at the ocean. "…I don't remember what I was walking out here for anymore. I really must be old then..."


	48. Chapter Forty Seven

Author Notes: I need to hurry it up with this story, don't I?

* * *

Chapter Forty-Seven

It was early the next morning, the sun just starting to rise. A small breeze blew across the island, rustling the tree leaves. Everyone was still asleep, although it was a wonder how they were due to Mr. Briney's loud snoring, which almost resembled a chainsaw.

Brendan slowly sat up from his sleeping bag, rubbing his eyes and yawning. He looked around at everyone else and quietly sighed. He stood up and began heading through the trees towards the beach.

Once he got out there, he stretched and yawned once more before simply standing there, looking out at the ocean. A small thought crossed through his mind on how it was possible that they could see the sun rise and set but he shook his head and forgot about it.

"Good morning."

Brendan looked over his shoulder to see Raven walking up behind him, letting out a huge yawn. She stopped and stood next to him, rubbing her eyes as she looked out at the ocean.

Brendan frowned as he thought about the previous night; he and her arguing and what Juan told him. He looked up at her to see that she was yawning yet again.

Hesitating at first, Brendan spoke. "About last night…"

"Yeah?"

Brendan looked down at the ground and shoved his hands in his pockets. Trying to look and act as nonchalant as possible, he continued. "Sorry about getting angry. Didn't mean to do that at all."

"What the heck are you doing?"

"What do you mean 'what the heck are you doing'? I'm apologizing!"

"I meant what the heck are you doing with the way you're posing and that stupid look on your face!"

"I'm acting nonchalant!"

"What the heck's that mean?!"

"It means that I don't care!"

Back at the camp, Pearl sighed and covered her ears. "Great, they're both up and wide awake…"

Brendan crossed his arms and sat down on the sand. "See, that's what's annoying about you! I try to apologize and you make fun of the way I look!"

Raven plopped down next to him. "Well, you looked retarded. Jeez."

"I should be the one saying jeez! Jeez!"

Neither said anything but rather crossed their arms, made a "Humph!" noise and turned their faces in the opposite directions. They sat there like that for who-knows-how-long until Raven started laughing quietly, causing Brendan to turn back and look at her.

"…What?"

"Call me crazy, but I actually like arguing with you."

"Crazy."

Raven punched his shoulder and made a weird face. "Anyways, I accept your apology!"

"I never asked for you to accept it," Brendan said. "Stupid…"

And yet again neither said anything. They both looked out at the ocean, which continued to come up and down the beach.

"Hey, Raven?"

"HEY!" Pearl shouted and the two looked behind themselves to see Pearl standing there waving at them. "Come on guys, come back over here! Juan said he needs to tell everyone something!"

"Fine!" Raven shouted back and looked over at Brendan. "What were you saying?"

"Nothing, never mind."

---

"And now, for my announcement!" Juan announced and clapped his hands once. "At some point before you all got here, Raven absorbed the Red Orb and, currently, could be controlled at any time!"

Everyone stared at him with an array of expressions. Needless to say, maybe you could imagine a few.

"…Very funny!" Pearl suddenly said and began laughing. Seeing as how no one else laughed, she quieted down and eventually stopped laughing. "…Are you serious?"

"No, my real announcement is that all of you will die in 7 days," Juan said and rolled his eyes. "Raven, if you may, show the back of your hand to everyone."

"But you said 7 days!"

Juan looked confused at first before shaking his head. "Yes, but I wanted your hand as a souvenir. Now, if you may…?"

Raven made a face and stuck her hand out. Everyone else crowded around it, looking at it curiously.

"What's it with those patterns?"

"Like I said," Juan began and stepped forward, tracing the patterns on her hand with his finger. "She absorbed the orb into her hand, which is why the patterns are there. Now, Raven, I'm going to show you how to release the orb, got it?"

She nodded. "First off, concentrate as hard as you can on your hand. Then, imagine that orb is appearing above your hand."

Raven nodded again and began giving death glares to her hand. Brendan had begun to laugh quietly as he watched her while the others watched her intently. Juan frowned and began to tap his chin.

"It doesn't seem like you're having an easy time doing this… One of you, put a hand on her shoulder and do the same as I told her."

Yellow reached out and put a hand on Raven's shoulder, shutting her eyes and concentrating. Seeing as how it didn't seem to be working even then, Wally also reached out and put his hand on Raven's other shoulder.

Slowly, the patterns on Raven's hand grew brighter and something began to rise out of her hand. Soon enough, it came out as a glowing red sphere and hovered above her hand.

"All right, you've done it!" Juan announced and began clapping his hands. The three all opened their eyes and sighed in relief. Meanwhile, the orb suddenly stopped hovering and fell, only to be caught quickly by Raven.

He then frowned yet again. "I wasn't expecting it to take three of you to make it come out… Maybe it has something to do with where we are, I wonder…?"

"Wow, so that's the Red Orb, huh?" Tate asked and leaned over to Raven, looking at the bright red orb. "…I didn't expect its name to be so literal."

"How does it go back in?" Liza asked.

"Oh, just touch it again," Juan said and began muttering things to himself again.

Like Juan said, Raven touched the orb with her other hand and, in a bright and quick flash of light, disappeared. This time the pattern appeared on the hand Raven had just touched it with.

Juan stopped talking to himself and raised his arms in the air. "Well! After some breakfast, what do you say to some training?"

"Never! I don't want to!" a voice that sounded quite like Swampert's shouted from behind a tree and a loud thunking noise was heard, follow by a quiet "Sorry!"

---

Meanwhile, back at Sootopolis City, nearly a week had passed since Mr. Briney had left with the other seven trainers. Much of the city was destroyed, yet Groudon and Kyogre still used it as their fighting spot. To make matters much worse, Archie had been controlled by the Blue Orb and was violently attacking the people.

"And do any of you have a clue as to where those children you sent are?!" Maxie snapped. He was sitting behind a somewhat crumbled wall of a house, along with two Team Magma grunts, Brawly, Flannery, and Wattson.

"Well, if we did, don't you think we'd tell you?!" Brawly snapped back and sighed. "And why are you following us around? This is all you and the crazy pirate dude's fault, so maybe you should go to Sky Pillar and get Rayquaza yourself!"

Maxie frowned. "And have you any idea as to why five children were picked to go instead of adults?"

"There was a reason?"

This time Maxie sighed and hit himself on the forehead. "Of course there is! Even I know that it's physically impossible for an adult to get up there! The tower was built in a way so that the only things capable of passage are small Pokémon; or, in our case, small children!"

"Oh!" Flannery said and nodded. "That's why Winona picked the five smallest trainers in Hoenn! I thought she… What did I think anyways?"

Everyone else sighed and then jumped in surprise as an attack from Kyogre landed dangerously close to where they sat. "Time to move, kiddies!" Wattson said and jumped up, everyone following his actions. "Let's get a move on somewhere else!"

They all began running across the rubble towards where a wall had fallen against another, making a cave of sorts. Brawly suddenly spun around and shouted something unintelligible. The others all spun around to see that Archie had, at some point, come up behind them and had Brawly in a tight headlock.

"Now, listen to what I have to say!" Archie shouted and pointed in the opposite direction. "You're going to help me gain control of both these Pokémon or your friend here is dead!"

"Archie, are you out of your mind?!" Maxie snapped. "Your only concern is gaining control of these Pokémon?! And for what reason?!"

"Well, what do you think?" Archie answered. "It's quite obvious, really… Hold Groudon back while-"

Archie stopped mid-sentence as Brawly elbowed him in his stomach. Brawly then pushed himself under Archie and somehow tossed him, throwing him down through the rubble.

"Quick, let's go!" Flannery shouted and the group hurried off.

Meanwhile, Archie had sat up from where he landed. He was rubbing the back of his head and mumbling things to himself as he shook his head.


	49. Chapter Forty Eight

Author Notes: I implied something I should've have implied in this chapter.

* * *

Chapter Forty-Eight

"And so, the time has come…" Juan said. "The times are about to switch and therefore, like I've already explained, will match up with the outside world's. Our timing has to be perfect… It'll only hit the match once and, since time is quickening, do so quickly. If we miss it, we'll have to wait again…"

"And… how do you know the times are getting ready to switch…?" Brendan asked.

Juan pointed to the ocean, where large waves were being created by the wind. "The weather starts to get stormy when the times start to change, just like this."

Mr. Briney began laughing and pounded on his chest. "Storms are no match for me! I've braved the very worst!"

Raven rolled her eyes. "Great. Everyone, we're going to die."

"Anyways, everyone should start gathering their things," Juan said. Noticing the look that everyone was giving him, he waved his hand. "Well, I meant things like your Pokémon…"

Everyone stood up then, hurrying off to find their Pokémon (who were all over the island). Mr. Briney headed over to where his boat had been tied to a tree at one end of the island. Juan simply sat there, staring off with a blank look on his face…

---

"I'll tell you when to go!" Juan said, standing on the beach with his arms crossed over his chest, obviously trying to keep himself warm from the whipping winds.

"That'd be great, thank you!" Mr. Briney said. He headed into the captain's room, where everyone else already was. Peeko had assumed her usual position on top of Raven's head.

The boat was being violently rocked back and forth by the waves and the wind could be heard slamming against the outside of the boat. Tate, Liza, Brendan, and Pearl sat on one side of the boat while Raven, Yellow, and Wally sat on the other side with their arms around each other.

"And… go!"

The boat jerked forward and began driving through the ocean. Brendan, Pearl, and Raven's PokéNav had been set up right next to Mr. Briney, where Juan was talking on it.

"When you guys are safely in the real world, you should lose your signal with me, all right?"

"Got it!" Mr. Briney said and saluted.

"Got it!" Raven repeated and saluted as well.

All sounds that were heard then were either sounds of the boat running, the storm outside, or Raven making noises from being seasick.

"…What happens if we go back there and the entire world's destroyed?!" Wally suddenly said.

"Then, with just us, we'll create a new world!" Tate suggested and received a punch in his arm from his sister.

"…How would we do that?" Wally asked.

"Don't tell me you seriously don't know?" Tate asked. "Well, it's called-"

Liza covered his mouth to stop his talking, although it wasn't quite needed because Tate's head suddenly hit the wall. The boat seemed to jump in the air for a moment…

Except, it seemed to stay in the air longer than it should have.

"What's going-" Pearl began but stopped, screaming loudly as the boat began to fall. It fell for what seemed like forever until it slammed into something, stopping abruptly. Everyone flew to the front of the boat as a result of its sudden stopping.

For the next few seconds, everyone lied there groaning and moaning and holding their heads. Mr. Briney eventually looked up to look at the PokéNav. "Well, it seems we lost our signal with Mr. Juan."

"Yeah, I could've told you that and not even looked at it!" Raven snapped. She stood up clumsily before pulling Wally up off the ground. "Wally, you okay?"

"I-I'm fine…" Wally mumbled and rubbed the back of his head. "That was… kind of fun…"

"So, where are we?" Brendan asked and stood up, looking out the window. The place they crashed at was a white rock, or more specifically, a wall of white rock. Brendan headed to the door and opened it up, seeing that the boat had, luckily, landed in water.

"…No way."

"What's wrong?" Yellow asked, fixing her hat and going over to Brendan.

"We're back in Sootopolis City," Brendan mumbled and pointed outside. Sure enough, they had ended up back in Sootopolis City. The city had many crumbled walls and destroyed buildings, but people were still around, walking through the rubble.

Just then, a blue Pokémon landed on the deck of the boat. It quickly spun around to look at the sudden intruders, its hands in front of itself in a defensive position. However, after looking over them quickly, it lost all interest of possibly attacking them and hurried over to where Raven was, hugging her leg tightly.

"Hi, Riolu!" Raven said happily and bent down to pat the Pokémon's head. "Who's a good boy? You are! Yes you are!"

Brendan sighed and hit himself on the head. "What a weirdo…"

"Hey, you!"

"…Me?" Brendan asked and looked up to see a blue haired older boy sitting atop the wall. "Oh, you're… er…"

"Brawly!" the boy shouted and waved. "So, what's with the flying boat…?"

"…Um, nothing, I guess."

Brawly nodded. Then, he frowned and scratched his head. "Wait… Aren't you supposed to be at Sky Pillar right now?"

"…Oh yeah," Brendan mumbled. Now they would have to start back from Sootopolis again and head down to…

"Well, long story short," Raven said loudly and came out from behind Brendan, which nearly made the white haired boy scream at not noticing her. Riolu was still hugging Raven's leg tightly…

"We were kidnapped by Mirage Island where we stayed with a man who had a weird moustache. He trained us for a couple of days before sending us off the island where we flew here on our magic boat."

"Oh. Okay," Brawly answered.

_You actually believe everything she said?!_ Brendan thought. _Even if it was true, she made it sound crazy!_

"Well, I'll tell you everything that's happened here!" Brawly said. "If you can't tell from the way the city looks, Groudon and Kyogre destroyed a lot of it. And the Blue Orb, the one used for controlling Kyogre? The leader of Team Aqua ended up absorbing it. No one knows where the Red Orb is though…"

"Oh, the red one's-" Raven started but Brendan covered her mouth.

"Don't tell anyone that you absorbed the Red Orb," he whispered.

"Man, that guy had a strong grip…" Brawly mumbled and rubbed his neck. "Anyways, we tried to have the people who weren't able to leave the city go to the Cave of Origin, since it's underground and stuff… But that Team Aqua guy's holding them all hostage and he's threatening to kill them if we don't listen to what he says."

Brendan looked over his shoulder to see that Pearl, Tate, Liza, Wally, Yellow, and Mr. Briney were all listening to what Brawly said as well. Brendan looked back up at Brawly and shouted, "Since we're here, we'll help!"

"Well, follow me!" Brawly said and stood up, walking along the wall.

"W-wait a second! How are we-?!"

"I dunno. Jump or something. You came here on a flying boat, I think you can think of some way to follow me."

"You suck."

---

Winona stood in front of a group of angry people, motioning them back with one hand. In front of her, Archie stood next to another group of people, who all wore frightened expressions as they were held still by the tentacles of a large, blue Pokémon.

Winona sighed. "All right. What do you want us to do?"

"Glad to see you'll listen," Archie sneered. "What I would like… is the Red Orb. I'm quite sure that it must be in your possession, am I right?"

"No, wrong," Winona answered. "We haven't a single clue of where the Red Orb is."

"Really now?" Archie asked. "Tell the truth now, because I won't even hesitate to… 'harm' one of these people." He motioned to the people he had captured and pointed to a girl in the group. "We could start with this girl, maybe? Tentacruel wouldn't have a problem poisoning her, or maybe-"

"I said we don't know!" Winona snapped and Archie stopped talking. They both began looking around in confusion when they heard an odd and annoying noise coming from somewhere.

"Let's go, Peeko!"

Winona looked up at the sky with a look of horror. "Oh shi-"

From up in the sky flew Peeko with Raven holding onto one of her feet. She let go of Peeko's foot and fell down to the ground in between Winona and Archie. But she ended up failing to land on her feet, landing on her back instead.

"Owww…" she mumbled and quickly stood up. Jabbing a finger in Archie's direction, she shouted something unintelligible before charging at him like a wild beast.

Archie sighed and held his arm up to block the biting animal child. However, much to his surprise (and everyone else's) when she hit his arm, a bright flash of blue and red light shone before the two were quickly pushed back from each other.

"…What?" Archie said and put his arm up again as Raven charged at him. Once again, when she hit him the lights shone and pushed the two away from each other yet again.

Archie started laughing in an almost hysteric manner, holding his sides as Raven ran at him again. "I can't believe it! This kid… she has the Red Orb?"

Winona was shaking her head with her face in her palms as Raven continued attacking him. She looked up when Brawly came up behind her with the others and grabbed him by his shirt.

"Why is she-?!" she started and pointed at them. "Why are all of you-?! Why-"

"One question at a time, Winny," Brawly said.

"Don't call me that," Winona said and pointed back at Raven and Archie. "Why the heck did she come out of nowhere and why is she here?!"

Brawly laughed. "If you think she came out of nowhere, you should've seen the boat!"

Winona looked at him blankly and let him go. She looked back over her shoulder to watch as Raven continuously failed to hit Archie.

"That's it!" Archie shouted as the light pushed the two away from each other again. "Tentacruel, now!"

The Pokémon nodded and tightened its grip around the people, who all started to scream. A hole suddenly opened up underneath Tentacruel and Pichu, Magnemite, Minun, and Chuchu jumped out, electrocuting it. Its tentacles let go of the people, who all hurried away from it as quickly as they could.

Piplup crawled out of the hole as well, although he was covered in so much dirt that he was almost unrecognizable. He high-fived the other Pokémon (except Magnemite, who was incapable of giving a high five) and looked at the Tentacruel that lay there, stunned.

"What in the-?" Archie began and looked at his Pokémon. "Beat by a couple of tiny electric Pokémon?!"

"See, Winny?" Yellow said and began laughing. "It was part of the plan!"

"Don't. Call. Me. That," Winona muttered. "But, I suppose you could say I am impressed. Good timing, because… You know…"

Raven finally stopped attacking Archie and looked back at them. "Now what do I do?"

"…Don't ask me that."

"Well, little girl," Archie began and walked up behind Raven. "I suppose I'm lucky that you can't bite me and pass on your rabies, but I suppose I'm unable to strike you back. I didn't think the orbs would repel each other on contact…"

He reached out and put a hand on her head. However, this time there was no light and nothing pushed him away.

"Be a nice kid for once and give me the Red Orb, will you?"

"What, you think I'm stupid or something?"

"Your looks would suggest so."

"Yeah, well so would your looks."

Archie frowned and tightened his grip. "Just do it, will you?"

"No."

"…Please?"

"No."

This time Archie sighed and lifted his hand off her head. "…I don't even know how to deal with annoying children like you."

"Me either," Raven answered. All of a sudden, her nose crinkled up. "Ah… Ahh… Ahh…"

Brendan slapped himself. "Oh great…"

Raven sneezed loudly and something fell on the ground. She rubbed her nose and looked down to see the Red Orb lying there. "…Uh oh."

"To which I say, thank you for whatever caused you to sneeze," Archie said and looked so happy that he could've started crying at any moment. But he didn't. Because that would've made a bad impression.

Archie dove for the orb, which Raven tried to step on. But failed. Archie picked up the orb, completely oblivious as Raven tripped over her own feet and fell on the ground.

"It's a free-for-all! Get him!" someone shouted.

"No, not this again!" Winona said. "No, don't do it! It's not a free-"

But alas, it was too late. Everyone dove in the direction of where Archie stood like someone just said that he had a million dollars and whoever touched him first got it all. Yes, just like that.

Archie sent out four Pokémon quickly, who all began creating a wall of ice in front of him. The wall grew and soon connected with a nearby wall. Where Archie had been standing the entire time was in front of the Cave of Origin, which was exactly what he began running into once the ice wall was finished.

"Wait a second!" Raven, who had been laying on the ground the entire time, shouted and quickly stood up, running after him. "GET BACK HERE!"

"Is she-?" Winona started and began slamming her fist against the wall of ice. "Raven! Don't you dare follow him, you hear me?! Don't follow-… I said don't follow him!"

Brawly put a hand on her shoulder and shook his head. "You know she can't hear you."

"Shut up."

Meanwhile, everyone else had gathered around the ice wall and were all trying to figure out someway to break it, the wall of which was surprisingly thicker than it looked.

"Excuse me!"

Winona and Brawly looked behind themselves to see that Yellow had stepped forward and looked up at them with a determined expression.

"I think my Pokémon might be able to break it…"

"…Do you think so?" Winona asked and stepped back from the wall. "You wouldn't mind trying right now…?"

Yellow shook her head and took out a Poké Ball, tossing it in the air. "Gravvy, go!"

The rock Pokémon came out and looked back at her expectantly. "Gravvy, I need you to help us break the wall! Even a small opening would be good, we really need to get through it…"

The Pokémon nodded and took a few steps back from the wall. It curled up into a ball and rolled towards the wall, slamming into it with a loud crash. It continued rolling against the wall until stopping suddenly.

It backed away even further from the wall and repeated the same move, slamming into the wall again. It did it one more time and, with a loud splitting sound, it broke through the wall and rolled through, stopping to look back at Yellow.

"Your Pokémon… A Golem, right?" Winona asked and Yellow nodded.

"Yep! Great job Gravvy!" Yellow said and began clapping her hands happily. "Miss Winona, could I hurry ahead to try and find Raven…?"

Winona nodded and watched as Yellow slipped through the hole, returned her Golem to its Poké Ball, and let out another Pokémon. Yellow jumped onto its back and pointed into the cave.

"Dody, we need to find Raven! Remember, she was the girl that wore blue…?" Yellow asked. "Right, that was her! Let's hurry!"

Dody nodded and began hurrying off into the cave. Winona grinned and looked over at Brawly.

"Well? Aren't you going to go too?"

"What? But shouldn't-"

"You should go in there and try to find either of them! Don't play stupid with me, I know you want to go!"

Brawly shrugged. "All right then, I'll go."

Winona nodded yet again and watched Brawly hurry off. She looked back at all the other people, who were all talking among each other in hurried voices. Some were checking on the people that Archie had held hostage, which Winona felt she should check out as well…

She stopped suddenly as a thought struck her. Now that Archie had the Red Orb as well, was it possible for him to absorb it and the Blue Orb at the same time…?

Winona shook her head. She could only hope that something like that wouldn't happen…


	50. Chapter Forty Nine

Chapter Forty-Nine

"…Oh Shiftry, I'm lost."

Raven sat down on the ground with a sigh and crossed her arms over her chest. Much to her surprise, she had gotten lost easily underground trying to find Archie. There were multiple passages that went off in different directions and, soon enough, Raven had gotten lost. And now, as she sat there, she thought of all the possible directions Archie could've taken.

"He could've easily went down the left one instead of the right one!" she muttered and smacked herself. "Why didn't I think of that?!"

For the oddest reason, Raven expected an answer from someone, even though she was all alone. Something like a "Cause you're stupid!" answer. But no one ever said that, despite her wanting to.

And it was now that she realized how dark the inside of the tunnels were, how empty and quiet it all was. Heck, Raven thought she heard her thoughts echoing through the tunnels.

As if things couldn't get worse, she realized now that her ankle was beginning to hurt, although she was pretty sure that she was imagining it.

"…Oh, right! My Pokémon!" Raven said and took one of her Poké Balls out, holding it in front of her. However, when she pressed the button, nothing came out. "What the-?"

She took a look at the Poké Ball. She could see Chao inside of it, who was looking at her worriedly, but no matter how many times she pressed the button, the Poké Ball wouldn't open up. Raven took out her other Poké Balls (which was only two, Cherrim and Guru-n) and tried them as well; none of them worked.

"Great, so now I can't let you guys out!" Raven whined and sighed. "Piplup, Pichu, and Magnemite… I left them all behind."

"W-well… We can still hear you, and you can hear us, right?" Guru-n asked.

"…Oh yeah, I can! So, let's talk!" she said happily and put the three Poké Balls in front of where she sat. "I'm hungry right now. I wish I had something to eat."

Needless to say, Raven was making absolutely no progress in finding Archie or possibly getting out of the cave.

---

Meanwhile, somewhere else underground, Grovyle and Swampert were busy chasing after Archie. Unlike Raven, who was making no progress at all, these two were doing rather well in their chase.

Archie was in sight ahead of them, running as fast as his legs could go.

"Grovyle, can you run faster than me?" Swampert asked.

"I don't know, can I?"

"…Uh, well, I don't know. I was asking-"

"Yes, I can run faster than you!"

"Well go and catch him then!"

Grovyle rolled his eyes and jumped onto the wall on his right. He began running faster along the wall, eventually reaching Archie and jumping off the wall. He landed in front of Archie, who skidded to a stop.

Archie sneered at Grovyle and let out a Pokémon, a large blue Walrus Pokémon that had been one of the Pokémon to create the ice wall outside. "Walrein, keep this Pokémon and the one further back busy, got it?"

The Walrein nodded and opened its mouth, creating a bright blue ball of light that it shot at Grovyle. Grovyle jumped out of the way of the ball, which crashed into the floor and turned the place it landed into ice. Grovyle suddenly jumped again as another ball was thrown in his direction, the wall being turned into ice as well.

Archie had left sometime ago, much to Grovyle's surprise, who had barely enough time to notice as the Walrein continued tossing ice balls at him.

Grovyle jumped farther back down the tunnel, where Swampert was still running to catch up with him. Grovyle looked behind himself and pointed forward.

"Careful of this guy's attacks, whatever they touch turns into ice," Grovyle said. "And, I've noticed that the balls are getting larger each time it makes one."

Swampert nodded. "Got it."

The two hurried forward to where Walrein was in the tunnel, several places on the walls and floor covered with ice. Walrein had begun to make yet another ball, which it let off in the duo's direction.

Swampert quickly stood in front of Grovyle with his arms spread open. Noticing the look Grovyle was giving him as the ball smashed into his chest and covered it with ice, he winked.

"Don't worry, it's a part of my plan!"

Grovyle frowned. "I hope so…"

"I'm just taking a guess by what you said…" Swampert started and motioned to where Walrein had begun to create another ball. "But, if these are getting larger each time, that means it takes a longer time to make each one."

Grovyle nodded and jumped up onto Swampert's shoulder. "I didn't think that you were the kind who thought of things like that! So, what's your plan?"

"As soon as Walrein throws that ice ball again, start running towards it! Make sure you avoid the ball, obviously, and while Walrein starts to make another one, attack it!" Swampert explained. "And then, just wait for what I'm gonna do!"

Grovyle nodded yet again. "I hope whatever you're going to do is going to work…"

Swampert nervously laughed. "Everyone seems to say that about everything I think…"

Walrein shot the ball at them yet again and Grovyle jumped off Swampert's shoulder. He ran towards the ball and quickly ducked underneath it, hurrying to where Walrein had begun to make another ball.

The leaves on Grovyle's arm seemed to sharpen themselves as Grovyle skidded to a stop in front of Walrein. He pulled back one of his arms and slashed forward at Walrein, who for some reason was unable to move away from Grovyle. Slashing at the Pokémon multiple times, eventually Grovyle knocked Walrein off balance and it fell over. The Pokémon, however, was still able to fight and glared at Grovyle as it tried to sit up.

The two quickly froze it place as they heard a deep rumbling noise in the cave. Grovyle looked over his shoulder and screamed as he saw a ton of water coming through the cave towards him.

And running from the approaching water was Swampert, looking rather pleased with himself as he picked Grovyle up and placed him on his head.

"Hold on!"

The water slammed into them and began heading down the tunnel in the direction that Archie had been running in.

"And what is the point of this?!" Grovyle snapped as he held on rather tightly to Swampert.

"Well, I noticed when we were running that the tunnel was tilted slightly downwards. So, I figured that if I flooded the place with water, it would all started heading downwards 'cause that's the direction the tunnel's tilted at!" Swampert said. "Also, it's much faster to swim through water than to run!"

Grovyle shook his head and sighed. "Then why'd you let that one attack hit you?!"

"'Cause I was protecting you, that's why!" Swampert answered. "Besides, I'm sure having an icy chest will help later! Hey, if it had been on my shoulder, I could give you the cold shoulder! Haha, I made a funny!"

Grovyle kept his mouth shut and continued holding onto Swampert for his dear life.

---

"…So you're telling me that there are millions of tunnels underground and that most, if not all, of them lead to the Cave of Origin?" Winona asked.

Wattson nodded.

"And that you think that Team Aqua and Magma figured out about these tunnels and that's how they were able to reach Kyogre and Groudon underground without any of us noticing?"

Yet again he nodded.

Winona crossed her arms and looked at the old man with a blank face. "…That's a good theory. I never would of thought of it."

Wattson let out a sigh that he'd apparently been holding. Winona tilted her head curiously as he did this but looked behind herself as someone walked up behind her.

A girl with tanned skin wearing a blue bikini top and a long skirt had come up to Winona and smiled when Winona turned around. "Sorry if I interrupted your conversation."

Winona shook her head. "No. What's wrong, Phoebe?"

"Well, nothing's actually wrong, it's just that I had gone to talk with some of the Team Magma and Aqua grunts and I learnt something from them that I think you should know of," the girl started.

"They said that their bosses had been planning to steal a submarine being built in Slateport so they could reach the caverns that Kyogre and Groudon slept in. But they said that since some kids had been messing up everything they been doing that their bosses changed their plans from stealing the submarine to something else!"

"What was that something else?"

"I don't know!"

Winona sighed. "Well if you don't know then-"

"No, wait!" Phoebe said and held up her hands. "I remember now! I think they said that their bosses decided that the teams should join forces!"

"Well, that'd explain why both were there when they attacked the Weather Institute…" Wattson mumbled. Winona nodded in agreement.

"Anything else?"

Phoebe shook her head. "Nope. No one's heard anything from anyone giving chase to Archie either. But Drake said that he was pretty sure that Archie's trying to find his way to where Kyogre and Groudon are fighting so that the orbs have better control over them…"

Winona frowned. "Doesn't make sense. I think he just headed underground so he could try to get away from us…"

Phoebe shrugged. "I don't know. Also, I was wondering, maybe you could send those kids to Sky Pillar to get Rayquaza…?"

"Well, I'm waiting for a response," Winona answered.

"From who?"

"Someone. Besides, I think that the five kids I picked out aren't around anymore… One of them was the one that Archie took the orb from, another of them ran after the two, and the remaining three… I don't know where they are."

Phoebe sat down next to where Winona and Wattson were sitting, a place that looked out at the water. "…The rest of the region isn't doing too good, from what I've heard and seen. A lot of the places in the south are flooded while places in the north are losing their water and getting so hot that things are actually start to catch on fire…"

"I've heard that even the other regions are starting to become affected by this too," Wattson added. "The other regions are starting to have longer periods of sunlight than they usually due, which I suppose would be because of Groudon… Of course, it's nothing compared to what's happening here."

Winona said nothing and hugged her knees. Phoebe and Wattson, however, continued talking about how everything was being affected by Hoenn's own crisis.

"…We can't fix this."

"What?" Phoebe and Wattson both asked and looked at Winona, who'd been the one to say it.

"Look how destroyed Sootopolis City is. There's no amount of work that could ever be done to fix this place, or any of the other places in Hoenn. It's easier to fix a place that was made by man than to fix a place that was made by the earth."

"…You're right…" Phoebe mumbled and sighed. "The other regions are different than Hoenn 'cause most of their cities were made by people. But Hoenn has more wildlife than they do and stuff…"

Wattson looked around curiously for a moment before saying something. "Hey, you two… Haven't you noticed?"

"Noticed what?"

"Groudon and Kyogre aren't fighting anymore. Look out over there… They're both just staring at each other."

---

And now, back underground. Raven still hadn't moved a bit from where she was and, for the oddest reason, she could no longer understand what her Pokémon were saying. Or even hear them. She'd thought she might've gone deaf, at first, until she heard her own noises made by running around.

"…This is terrible…" she mumbled and sat down where she was, away from her Poké Balls so she wouldn't have to see her Pokémon look at her so sadly. "I can't hear my Pokémon anymore, I'm lost underground, I'm stupid, and my ankle hurts…"

Raven felt a stinging feeling in her eyes and brought up her hand, rubbing her eyes roughly. Despite all of her rubbing, which was most likely doing the opposite effect of what she wanted, tears began to fall.

"About time I found you."

Raven looked up quickly to see someone she wasn't expecting walking through the tunnel towards her.

Brawly.

"Ah, I got lost…" she said and smiled. "I'm stupid, it's nothing new!"

Brawly shrugged as he continued walking over to her. He motioned to the Poké Balls lying on the floor. "What's it with those?"

"I was talking to them, that's all!" Raven said, folding her arms across her chest.

"Did you stop for some reason?"

"Yeah, I couldn't understand them anymore!" Raven answered. "At first their voices started turning into them saying their names, like what a lot of people hear them say. But then I couldn't hear any noise at all…"

Brawly picked up the Poké Balls and handed them back to her. "Sorry, I wouldn't know why 'cause I'm pretty stupid too."

Raven put them into her short pockets and continued sitting where she was. Brawly saw that she wasn't going to be getting up anytime soon and, therefore, went ahead and picked her up.

"Put me down!"

"Well, you weren't getting up…" Brawly said and dropped her back on the ground. She muttered something under her breath as she stood up and rubbed her nose.

"…So where are we going?"

"I left marks along the way so I wouldn't get lost but we're gonna head back to the entrance and then… I don't know what after that. There are others going after Archie but…"

"Whatever," Raven mumbled and started limping down the tunnel in the direction Brawly had come from. Brawly began to follow after her quickly and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Did you hurt your leg or something?"

Raven snorted. "Yeah, right! I'm fine!"

The two stopped walking as they heard an echoing crash noise from down the tunnel, in the opposite direction of where they'd both come from. They both looked at each other, nodded, and began running down the tunnel in that direction.


	51. Chapter Fifty: VS Archie!

Author's Notes: First off, I'd like to say that it's been over a year since I first started this story and we're just now on the 50th chapter (or actually, 51st chapter if you count the prologue). Now, if I wasn't the lazy thing I am, I would be done with it. And, as already seen, I don't care if people review my story or not, 'cause I'm gonna keep on writing it. Because it's fun.

Other than that, this chapter has the cheesiet ending for a chapter ever. :D

* * *

Chapter Fifty

Somewhere underground, a flood of water poured into a large circular room, crashing up against the walls. At the end of the flood of water, Swampert and Grovyle were carried into the room, slowing coming to a stop on the ground. For whatever reason, Grovyle's eyes were shut tightly and he was gripping onto Swampert's head for dear life.

Swampert took a look around the room. The water soaked up into the ground and into small cracks in the walls, leaving them in a simply wet and muddy room. He looked behind himself, seeing the tunnel they came out of along with another tunnel on the left and right of it.

"Grovyle? You can get off my head now."

Grovyle opened one eye and sighed in relief, jumping off of Swampert and landing on the ground next to him. "…Tell nobody about that."

"I won't have to, they all heard your screams."

"Shut up."

Swampert and Grovyle both looked at one of the other tunnels, hearing the sound of footsteps coming down it. Raven and Brawly were the ones to come out of it, looking around the wet room in confusion.

"Hey!" Swampert shouted and raised his arm at them. "Hey guys!"

"What was that noise we just heard?" Brawly asked. "It came from here, I'm sure!"

"Well, either it was the room being flooded with my totally awesome attack or it was Grovyle screaming."

Raven started laughing as Grovyle began waving his hands around. "I was not screaming! I wasn't, I swear!"

"I wish I could've seen that," Raven laughed, pointing at Grovyle. "I would pay a million Mudkips just to see that!"

"Mudkips?" Swampert asked and frowned. "Why would you pay-"

"Please, just don't ask anything."

A loud stomping noise was heard and everyone looked to see a fourth tunnel in the wall. Oddly, the tunnel was positioned much higher up above the other three tunnels, almost at the very top of the cave.

All of a sudden, a three headed bird came running out of the tunnel. However, since there was now no ground underneath the bird to support it, it began to fall. Which was, for whatever reason, a somewhat amusing sight.

"Dody, quick! Fly! Flap your wings, quick!" a voice shouted and the bird began struggling to flap the small stubs of wings it had. While it didn't necessarily fly, it did slow down enough so that when it reached the ground, it was able to land on its feet.

The kid, who just so happened to be Yellow, quickly climbed off the Pokémon's back and tried to catch her breath. Once she had done so, she looked over at Swampert, Grovyle, Raven, and Brawly, who were all staring at her blankly.

"…Raven!" Yellow shouted happily.

"Yellow!"

Brawly looked at Grovyle. "Grovyle!"

Grovyle blinked in confusion for a moment before answering back, "Brawly!"

And Swampert looked around at them before pointing at himself and shouting, "Swampert!"

Yellow and Raven ran towards each other and grabbed the other one's hands, jumping around in a childish manner. The other three clueless boys watched them with blank looks.

"I was so worried about you!" Yellow said and sniffed, tears getting in her eyes. "I thought you would've been hurt or something by that guy!"

"…Speaking of 'that guy', I wonder where he is?" Raven asked. She tilted her head in confusion and looked slowly over at Swampert and Grovyle. "…Do you two know?"

Swampert gulped and rubbed the back of his head. "I certainly don't! Not at all, nope!"

"Don't lie!" Grovyle snapped. "Archie's over there."

At that, Grovyle pointed over his shoulder to where Archie and his Walrein were unconscious against the wall of the back of the cave. Despite his being unconscious, everyone screamed anyways. Including Swampert, who already knew he was there but screamed for the effect.

"Why didn't you say something?!" Raven shouted.

Swampert didn't answer, instead going on with rubbing the back of his head. Raven decided to verbally abuse him, trying to get him to talk but failing to do so. Yellow and Brawly looked at each other and then over where Archie was.

"Well, maybe we should call for help…?" Yellow began hopefully.

"I don't think we could get a signal from anything down here," Brawly answered. "Besides, I think Raven said that the Poke Balls don't work down here either. So we're kind of in trouble."

Another scream was heard, coming from the tunnel that Yellow had just come out of. Everyone stopped with their nonsense noise making and looked up, seeing Flannery fly out of the tunnel as if she had been falling down it.

She probably had been.

"Dody, catch her!" Yellow called and her Pokémon nodded, positioning itself under where Flannery was falling. Sure enough, Flannery landed on the Pokémon's back and almost immediately stopped her screaming. She covered her mouth, sat up, and looked around nervously.

"I'm sorry!" she squeaked. "Thank you, Mr. Dodrio."

"Okay, I vote that we just leave Archie underground here to die peacefully and all alone," Raven said and raised her hand. Swampert whispered something to her about his Walrein still being there and she glared at him.

And once again started her verbal abuse on him.

Since everyone was so busy wasting time, no one noticed that Archie had slowly begun to stand up. His Pokémon had begun to do the same and they both watched the group in disbelief as they did absolutely nothing.

Flannery looked over to where Archie was and tried to get everyone else's attention. "Guys? Hey, guys? That Team Aqua guy, he's awake. Are you listening? Guys?"

Yellow's Dodrio rolled its eyes before squawking, which was enough to get everyone's attention. One of the bird's three heads along with Flannery pointed in Archie's direction.

"…He's awake!"

"Are you kidding me?!" Archie shouted. "I could have easily killed all of you just now! Am I seriously even thinking that I might get caught?! With people like you around, I would never have to think of that!"

Swampert raised his hand. "Actually, it's not just people here. There are Pokémon too."

Archie was not amused by Swampert's comment. He raised his hand towards them, shouting a command for his Pokémon. "Walrein, Ice Beam!"

However, Walrein didn't attack. It was going to, however, before it cringed in pain and didn't do so. Archie looked at the Pokémon with little care, instead shouting the command over again. "I said, Ice Beam!"

"It can't do anything!" Yellow shouted. He looked up at her with a raised eyebrow. "Can't you tell? Your Pokémon is way too hurt to attack! I mean, in a way I suppose I'm glad that it hasn't hurt us but you keep on pressuring your Pokémon to do something it can't! Why do you keep doing that!?"

"Do I look like I care at all?" Archie sneered at her. "Now, Walrein, I don't give a damn on whether you can or can't attack because of a few little cuts! Just do it!"

"Don't listen to him!"

Walrein looked at its trainer and then at Yellow, who was shouting at it desperately. For a moment, it actually seemed to consider who to listen to, much to the dislike of Archie.

"If you can't use Ice Beam then just use your body! Walrein, these people are trying to stop us from reaching our goal; wouldn't you prefer for this planet to be only water? This way you'd be able to live everywhere and anywhere, not have to worry about the lack of water."

Yellow looked frantically at the others, who all just stood there with looks of defeat. "You guys, we have to… We can't…"

"…I'm sorry…" Flannery said and covered up her face. "I'm sorry! I'm just hopeless, I can't help out at all! S-so… there's no need to ask me to help, because I can't!"

Yellow shook her head. "That's not true! Right…" She looked at Raven hopefully. "Raven?"

Raven was looking at her Poké Balls with the same look as Flannery. "I… I don't know…"

Yellow couldn't think of anything. She looked over at Brawly, Swampert, and Grovyle. They said nothing and she looked forward again. Archie had finished trying to persuade Walrein and now looked back at them, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Well? If you give in now, I won't attack. If you don't… well, I'm sure you know."

Yellow looked at the ground, speechless. She honestly couldn't believe what was happening…

"Wait."

Archie blinked in surprise. Yellow also blinked, looking over to where Raven was. She was shaking her head and shrugged, looking up at Archie.

"You know, for a second, I almost listened to you there. I almost thought there was nothing I could do," she mumbled. "Sorry, Yellow, about that. I don't know what I was thinking… Or better yet, if I was thinking. I can't hear my Pokémon anymore for some reason…"

She paused and pointed to the three Poké Balls at her side. "I can't understand a word they're saying. But when I looked at them, I tried to ask them, 'What do you think I should do?'… And well, at first, I got the feeling that Guru-n was telling me that I shouldn't, that it was dangerous. But then, I think he changed his mind, started telling me not to give up. Chao and Cherrim did the same too.

"I'm sure that if Piplup, Pichu, and Magnemite were here, that's would they would say. And I then, you know what I thought? I thought, 'If this place get covered with water, I'd have to learn how to swim!'"

Yellow was looking so happy that she wouldn't even be able to cry if she wanted to.

"So, Archie, my answer to your question as well as my thought…"

Archie was shaking his head in disbelief. He knew exactly what she was going to say, but for the oddest reason, listening to her talk was making him get angrier and angrier.

"Hell no!"

The next part happened so quickly that no one was even sure what happened quite yet. In a flash, Archie had taken out both the Red and Blue Orbs and held them in front of himself. Something dark came out of the orbs and tumbled towards the group like lightning. The room had darkened considerably to a dark color the same as that coming out of the orbs.

A loud noise, like the sound of thousands of glasses shattering at the time, was heard and the room brightened again.

But when everything brightened again, it appeared just as it had before Archie attacked with the orbs.


	52. Chapter Fifty One

Author's Notes: This chapter was soooo boring to right. But once I started writing it I ended up going on and on and just wrote the next few chapters...

* * *

Chapter Fifty-One

"…What?"

Raven blinked and looked around. Everything looked normal, or at least looked just as it had a moment ago. But whatever Archie had begun to do had stopped…

Looking at Archie, she could see that he was just as confused as they were. His face became even more confused as he looked at the orbs and let out a gasp.

"T-the orbs-!" he stammered but shouted something as both orbs suddenly cracked and shattered in his hands. Red and blue pieces fell all around the stunned Archie. "…Broke…?"

Raven and Yellow looked at each other before looking at the others. None of them said a thing, they didn't need to. All of them were still wondering what was going on.

Archie stepped back from the pieces of the orbs, starting to mumble things to himself. "Why did… How did the Orbs…"

"Are all of you okay?" a voice shouted from down one of the tunnels. Flannery, who'd been sitting on Dody's back the entire time, shouted back.

"We're okay!" At the end she muttered a quiet, "I hope…"

The steps slowed down before Maxie walked out of the tunnel, leaning against the wall and trying to catch his breath. Once he did, he looked at all the them before focusing where Archie stood, the orb pieces lying in front of him. "What is that?"

"The orbs both broke," Swampert mumbled, watching Maxie's face change from curiosity to shock.

"Broke? The Orbs both broke?!" Maxie glared at Archie. "What did you do?!"

"You expect me to know?!" Archie snapped back. "If you don't know, what makes you think I do?!"

Brawly begun to tell Maxie everything that just happened. Meanwhile, Archie began to look around the place in wonder, which had begun to make Yellow, Flannery, and Raven all feel uncomfortable. Sure enough, their uncomfortable feeling increased when Archie stared up at the ceiling with his arms outstretched.

"…Do you know what's up there?"

"Eh… the ocean?" Flannery answered in confusion. "We're underground, under the ocean I think…"

"Exactly!" Archie said, his voice full of fascination. "And I'm sure… I'm positive I know what just happened!

"The Orbs might've broke… But that's just a sign! It's a sign that they realized that they were no match for my power! That they gave up trying to control Kyogre and Groudon, because they realized that I'm the only one capable of doing so!"

Swampert tapped Grovyle's shoulder and pointed at him. "Look, there's a crazy person!"

"Crazy can't even explain what he is!" Maxie snapped. "Archie, are you out of your mind?! Is the pressure down here messing with your head?"

Archie lowered his arms. "…The only ones out of their minds are all of you. Because you fail to realize my goals are for the best… Because you can't accept the fact that I've won!"

"Houston, we have a problem, over," Swampert mumbled and Grovyle shook his head. "Better yet, you've won a free ticket to jail."

"You're going to keep mocking me, are you?" Archie asked. Just as Swampert got ready to answer, however, Grovyle covered his mouth. "I'll show you how funny everything can be… Walrein, break the ceiling!"

At first, Walrein seemed to hesitate. However, it crashed its body into the wall, a large crack shooting up towards the ceiling. Walrein did it again, much to everyone else's horror, and the wall and ceiling both split, water spilling in at a frightening pace.

---

Yellow felt the feeling of something rocking. Up and down, up and down… It gave her a wave of nausea, making her open her eyes to see where she was.

All she saw was the ocean at first, and for the oddest reason she thought she was dead. She heard a roar, followed by a crash and it was then she realized she was still alive.

She gasped and tried to jump up, finally realizing that she was floating in the ocean. After flailing for a moment, her hand hit sand, she grabbed on and pulled herself up to. She pulled herself up on a small sand island; it really was quite small. She coughed up water, gasping for breath.

Yellow looked down at the sand, breathing heavily. Then she looked up. The bodies of the others who'd been underground were all washed up on the small island, all of them unconscious. Yellow suddenly felt that she had to wake them all up immediately, which she proceeded to do.

"Hey! Mr. Maxie, sir, are you okay? Wake up!… Ms. Flannery, you too! Please don't be… just please be okay, all of you! Dody, Swampert, Grovyle… All of you, wake up!"

One by one, all of them began to wake up, much to Yellow's relief. She was relieved when even Archie, who'd also been washed up with them, came to.

And when all of them were fully awake and aware of their surroundings, they just sat there and stared at Archie, who had his back to them, looking out at the ocean. None of them said anything, not even the usually talkative Swampert.

"Are you happy now?" Raven asked, her arms folded across her chest.

Archie didn't answer.

"Well, I hope both you and Maxie are happy with what you've done… You tried to 'make the Earth into a better place' but in the end, you've just destroyed it! You've done nothing to help people or Pokémon… everything's just bad beyond words!"

"…I guess… I've really screwed up, haven't I?" Archie muttered.

Maxie sighed. "Not just you, but me too. Both of us screwed up."

"But let's go with the vote that Archie screwed up more!" Swampert said cheerfully. He felt almost upset about not a single reaction to what he said until Brawly gave him a small smile.

With a sigh, Archie pushed himself up from the sand and turned around to look at them all. "…So, how do we stop these guys?"

All of them smiled at him and got up. Maxie put a hand on his shoulder and pointed to Sootopolis. "That city is our first destination. Glad to see you've got a hold of yourself now."

Archie just smirked and shook his head.

---

Winona was extremely worried about the whereabouts of those who went underground. Just a bit ago, something seemed to have crashed under the sea. It felt like a small earthquake, although the rumbling noise that accompanied it didn't make it seem so.

And before that, Groudon and Kyogre had stopped fighting, but only for a bit. When the rumbling underwater occurred, the two began fighting violently once again, biting, clawing, and overall just attacking mindlessly at the other one.

Now Winona paced around in circles, muttering things to herself about what she should've done and what she shouldn't have done. Wattson watched her with a concerned expression on his face. He'd already tried to get her to stop but she wouldn't listen to a thing he said.

"I'm a terrible person! I can't believe I let two little kids and two brainless Gym Leaders go underground to catch a crazed criminal!" Winona whined. Wattson took a quick moment to think of who she was talking about; by "two little kids" she must've meant Yellow and Raven and by "two brainless Gym Leaders" she must've meant Brawly and Flannery.

"Aren't you being a bit harsh, calling Brawly and Flannery brainless…?" Wattson asked.

Winona spun around and gave him a look that would forever haunt him. "Just think about those two! Brawly doesn't have a brain and Flannery's too busy constantly insulting herself to use hers!"

Wattson nodded in agreement. "Yeah, you're right about that."

"And those are only the people I know who went underground! Who else went down there?! I don't know who went down there! They could be dead for all I know! Dead!"

This time Wattson let out a sigh. While Winona was saying a lot of crazy things and quite possibly overreacting, he himself couldn't help but be worried. He was worried about everyone, actually. Roxanne had been unable to really help when she suddenly began having coughing fits, Norman was nowhere in sight, Tate and Liza were also gone, and Wallace was… being remotely normal and helping people out.

And Wattson was, well, doing whatever Wattsons do.

Something in the sky caught Wattson's attention though. He put a hand over his eyes and tried to focus on whatever it was. There were two flying things with other… objects hanging from them. Wattson tapped on Winona's shoulder, received yet another frightening look, and pointed at the things.

Winona raised at eyebrow. "What in the Wattson is that?"

Wattson ignored the odd usage of his name in a sentence. "Beats me. I'm old and my eyesight isn't good, so I can't really tell."

Winona raised her hands in the air and began waving them around. "OVER HERE!"

"What are you doing?!" Wattson asked. "They could be the enemy! An attack, a trick! What're you-?!"

He stopped when he realized that Winona was looking at him oddly. He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly and laughed. "Sorry. I was thinking of something else…"

Slowly but surely, whatever was flying in the sky made its way over to where Wattson and Winona stood. Once Winona was able to finally recognize it, she let out a sigh of relief and fell to her knees.

"Thank God…"

Maxie and Archie had been flying by holding onto their Pokémon, with Brawly, Flannery, Yellow, Raven, Grovyle, and Swampert holding onto them. A large majority of them were holding onto Maxie instead of Archie…

"What's up, Winny?" Brawly asked and let go of Archie, who he had been holding onto along with Swampert. He dropped to the ground along with Swampert and both Archie and his Pokémon let out a sigh of relief at not having to carry them anymore.

Yellow, Flannery, and Raven also let go of Maxie, falling down next to Brawly. Grovyle had been sitting on Raven's shoulder and he jumped off, walking over somewhere and sitting down.

"You-!" Winona began angrily and looked up at them with an angry look. "Do you know-?!"

"She's gonna kill us!" Raven shouted and both she and Yellow covered their faces.

"…how much I was worried about you?"

Raven uncovered her face. "Well, I should've saw something weird like that happening."

Winona tried to fit her arms around the four and hug them, but well… she couldn't reach all the way around. She pulled away from them and looked at them each carefully, tears welling up in her eyes.

"You're all okay? No injuries? Or at least none too bad?"

"We're fine, Winny!" Brawly said and waved his hands around. "Well, I think I might've thrown out my arm a while back but…"

Winona shook her head. "You guys had me really worried, you know?"

"She was," Wattson agreed and nodded. "Not a single one of my jokes made her smile. She just got angrier and breathed more fire."

Winona ignored Wattson's comment. Instead, she looked over to where Maxie and Archie stood, the two both returning their Pokémon to their Poké Balls, which had finally begun to work again. She narrowed her eyes at them.

"What about them…?"

"They helped us out!" Flannery said happily. "Well… Actually, the red haired guy helped us and the other guy was just… crazy…" Flannery paused and pretend to throw something. "He was way out there, like that."

"Hey, I can hear you, you know," Archie muttered, not getting what her movement was supposed to represent (actually, no one at all knew) but knowing that she was pretty much calling him crazy.

Winona let out a sigh. "…As much as I want to tell you to get going to Sky Pillar, I realize it's going to take far too long and who knows what might happen… You might get sucked up by an island again."

"Are you… making fun of us…?" Raven asked. Winona ignored her question and continued looking at them curiously, as though they were something she'd never seen before.

"Excuse me, Miss Winona!" someone shouted. Winona turned around to see a girl running up behind her. The girl wore a Ranger uniform and Raven thought she looked familiar…

The girl looked at Raven and sighed. "Glad to see you're okay, Raven."

"…Do I know you?"

"It's Solana, remember?" she asked and pat her on the head. "I was coming up here because I saw something flying over here… but I'm guessing it was you guys?'

Raven shook her head quickly. "Wrong. It was a UFO."

Yellow, however, was nodding. "It was us!… But there was a UFO? Really?"

Solana laughed and pat the top of Yellow's hat, which had somehow remained on her head the entire time. "…I hope you're kidding… But, anyways."

Solana looked back at Raven with a frown across her face. She reached into a pocket on her uniform and handed Raven a Poké Ball. Raven looked at her in confusion.

"Your dad wanted me to give that to you," she said. She seemed to hesitate for a moment. "…He said that it would teleport you and the others to Pacifidlog Town. And from there you can get to Sky Pillar."

"Wow, really?" Raven asked in surprise and looked at Yellow happily. "Yellow, let's hurry and find the others!"

Yellow nodded enthusiastically and the two hurried off, shouting thank you and other various things. Solana sighed again, this one sounding exhausted yet almost sad at the same time. Winona put a hand on her shoulder to comfort her while Brawly, Flannery, Maxie, and Archie looked at them in confusion. Grovyle and Swampert had run off long ago to find Brendan.

"…Is something wrong?" Flannery asked quietly.

Winona looked up with a grim expression. "…Yes. It involves Norman too, if you didn't guess."


	53. Chapter Fifty Two

Author's Note: What the heck did I put Brandon in here for?... Hahah, Brandon, Brendan... o.o

* * *

Chapter Fifty Two

"Guys, guys, guys!" Yellow shouted cheerfully as she and Raven ran off to find them. They found them surprisingly quick, possibly because of Wally's bright green hair. "Guess what?"

Wally looked up excitedly at them. Grovyle and Swampert were already over by the group, which consisted of them, Wally, Tate, Liza, Brendan, and Pearl. Tate and Liza began waving at them while Pearl sighed and Brendan looked at them blankly.

"I'm really glad you two are okay!" Wally said happily. Once Raven reached him she pulled him into a tight hug and pat the top of his head.

"We're fine, Wally! It was nothing," she said happily. "But anyways, guess what?"

"We could guess anything right now and it'd probably be right," Brendan muttered.

"Wrong answer! Solana gave me a Pokémon from my dad that'll teleport us to Pacifidlog Town!"

Brendan shrugged. "Is that all?"

However, everyone else's reactions were different. "That's great!" Liza shouted and clapped her hands. "We should get going right now, shouldn't we?"

"The faster we leave the faster these two will go away!" Tate said happily. "And then I can go back to eating that disgusting pudding of Liza's!"

Liza glared at him. "You aren't eating any more of it! If it's disgusting, why did you eat it?!"

"Because it was addicting at the same time!"

"Enough fighting you two!" Pearl said and pulled the two away from each other. She walked over to Raven and handed her three minimized Poké Balls. "Here's Piplup, Pichu, and Magnemite! You left them behind earlier. As well as leaving behind their Poké Balls, which just shows that you're really careless."

Brendan was looking around at them in shock, mostly at their sudden decision to leave right now. "W-wait! Don't we… uh… need to tell Winona?"

"I'll do it for you!"

Raven sighed and covered her face. "…Nami is right behind me, isn't she?"

Everyone else nodded slowly and Raven sighed yet again. She looked over her shoulder at the brown haired girl with an annoyed look. "Yeah, you go tell her that."

"Okay, good luck!" Nami said happily, seemingly unaware of Raven's look. But she frowned. "…You always look at me like you want to kill me. Why?"

"I dunno, maybe because I want-"

Brendan quickly reached out and covered Raven's mouth before she finished her rude comment. Nami continued frowning before she slowly turned around. "I'll be going, then…"

"Thanks, Nami," Brendan said as she began walking away. He glared at Raven. "She's trying to help us out! Must you always be rude?!"

Raven nodded as he uncovered her mouth. Brendan quickly took out Swampert and Grovyle's Poké Balls and returned them before crossing his arms over his chest.

"Well? Where's this Pokémon that'll teleport us?"

"…Right!" Raven said and tossed the Poké Ball Solana gave her into the air. The ball opened up and let out a yellow Pokémon that somewhat resembled either a cat or a fox. It was sitting down with its eyes shut and appeared to be fast asleep.

Everyone looked at the sleeping Pokémon in confusion. Raven reached out to lightly tug on its right ear, which got no reaction out of the Pokémon at all.

"…I think I broke it."

Yellow shook her head. "It's not broken. I think this Pokémon is an Abra, actually. My uncle told me that although they seem to be asleep all the time, they can still hear you and even battle! Well, actually, he worded it a bit differently but I'm not going to say it how he said it…"

"Oh yeah, now I remember!" Liza said happily. "Tate and I've never seen an Abra before, so this is really cool!"

"Enough with the being in awe!" Raven snapped. "So it can still hear us, right? Abra, you can teleport us to Pacidfidlog Town, right?"

Abra slowly nodded its head. In fact, the movement was so slow that none of them even realized it until it repeated the motion again.

Pearl reached out and put her hand on the Pokémon's shoulder. "Everyone needs to touch Abra, or at least hold on to someone who's touching it. Got it?"

Raven rolled her eyes. "No, I didn't understand a single word you just said." Regardless, she also reached out and touched Abra's head. The others all did the same and once everyone was touching the Pokémon, Abra slowly moved its arms.

Everything around them seemed to start wavering before it all started to spin around them. The ground felt as though it, too, was spinning, although it seemed to be doing it in the opposite direction that the other things were going in.

In a quick moment everything stopped spinning. Everyone looked around to find themselves in front of a Pokémon Center that rested on a large wooden raft. There were other large rafts around as well, all of them with houses on them. The rafts were all connected to one another with bridges made of logs.

To make things odder, everything was on water. How it was floating was a complete mystery.

"…Oh, I get it now!" Yellow said happily. "Pacifidlog Town!"

"…And I still don't get it…" Raven muttered and sat down on the ground. "But I think I'm gonna be sick…"

The doors of the Pokémon Center suddenly opened and a man in a green outfit stepped out. "HEY, YOU KIDS!"

All of them screamed and backed away from the building. The man stood there with his arms crossed over his chest, looking at them with a seemingly angry look on his face. Wally hurried over to where Raven continued sitting and tried to get her to stand up.

Wally gulped and looked at the man. "Uh… is something wrong…?" he asked.

The man looked at Wally, who stared back at him with the same look. "What're you kids here for?"

"We're here to go to Sky Pillar…" Wally answered. "It's our mission to wake up Rayquaza and stop Groudon and Kyogre from fighting!"

"Your 'mission', huh?!" the man shouted. Wally seemed to shrink back from the man but gulped yet again and nodded.

"Yes sir! If you're gonna try to stop us, go ahead, but we're going there no matter what!"

No one said anything and looked at the man, whose expression didn't change at all. The man's glare was equally (and surprisingly) returned at him by Wally, who seemed so determined that none of them could believe that it was the same Wally from just moments ago.

The man smiled at them and started laughing. "All right, you passed!"

"…Passed what?" Raven muttered as Wally pulled her up. "Anyways, Wally, you were awesome! I didn't know you could even act like that!"

Wally laughed. "R-really…?"

"You know, I've been waiting for you kids to get here for a long time!" the man continued and turned around, motioning for them to follow him inside the Pokémon Center. "Ever since Norman asked me to help you guys on your way to Sky Pillar I've been waiting here! At least a week, I've been here!"

The group all followed after him hesitantly. "Um, who are you?" Liza asked.

"Call me Brandon!" the man answered. "So, are you guys hungry?"

"I am!" Tate shouted and raised his hand. "Really hungry!"

"Figures that his stomach works more than his brain…" Liza sighed. Needless to say, the two siblings began fighting with one another only to be broken apart from each other by Pearl.

Brandon raised his arm and got the attention of the nurse working at the Pokémon Center. "Hey there! You wouldn't mind telling us where we could eat, do you?"

---

"So! Winona's told me that you guys caught yourselves on Mirage Island, eh?" Brandon asked. They all sat around a table in the nearly empty center, eating and drinking things. "Sounds interesting! Later on, how about you kids tell me about it!"

"Um, sure…" Brendan muttered, sipping from his own drink and eyeing Brandon suspiciously.

"As soon as we're done, we'll head to Sky Pillar!" Brandon continued. "And once we're there, you kids are going to go all the way to the top!… 'Course, I myself can't do it but I'll be there to help you! I'm sure you'll be able to hear me fine through the passages."

Wally tilted his head curiously. "How come you can't do it?"

Brandon looked at Wally in confusion. "Did Winona not tell you guys anything? The pillar's built so that only small Pokémon and people can get through to the top. In fact, as soon as we get in there you'll see why!"

"What kind of place is built like that…?" Raven muttered.

Yellow laughed slightly. "It does sound weird…"

All of a sudden Brandon slammed his hand down on the table. "I don't know your names! Tell me them!"

Tate slammed his hand down on the table as well. "Call me Tate the great!"

Liza rolled her eyes. "Yeah right. My name's Liza!"

Yellow, Raven, and Wally all said their names at the same time. They all looked at each other and introduced themselves one by one.

"How did you three end up saying your names at the same time?" Brendan asked and shook his head. "I'm Brendan."

"And I'm Pearl!" Pearl said happily. "Anyways, Mr. Brandon, sir. What are Brendan and I going to do while the other five go up in the tower? Honestly, I don't know why I even came…"

"Isn't it obvious why you're both here?" Brandon asked. "Us three… we're here for moral support!"

Brandon started laughing loudly. The others all looked at him in confusion before looking at one another. Brandon slammed his hand down on the table again and stood up.

"Are you all done?"

"Um…"

"Then let's go!"

"…"

---

The first odd thing about Sky Pillar was, possibly, that it was not affected by the weather caused by Groudon and Kyogre's presence. A small amount of the area surrounding it also wasn't affected by it either. The sky was dark and the tower's shadows loomed over the ocean.

"…It's nighttime?" Pearl asked as they approached the island. They sat on the backs of several wild Pokémon that had been willing to bring them there. "And why isn't this place being rained on or sunny like the other places?"

"Rayquaza's ability!" Brandon started and pointed at the tower. "Its ability cancels out all changes in the weather, so this place isn't affected by it as long as Rayquaza is here!"

"W-wow…" Wally said in awe and gulped. "Then… that means the inside of the place is dark, right?"

Brandon jumped off the back of the Pokémon he was on, landing on the ground surrounding the tower. He walked over to the entrance and peered inside. "Actually, believe or not, the inside _does_ have light. Although I'm not sure why…"

The group all got off the backs of the Pokémon they were on and thanked them, watching them swim away quickly. They hurried over to Brandon and then they all walked inside.

The first floor of the tower was a simple, circular room. There was nothing in the room at all, making the children all confused as to how'd they get to the second floor. Brandon, meanwhile, had walked over to one area of the wall and tapped on it, getting their attention.

"Look," he pointed at a small rectangle hole at the top of the wall. "That's how you're getting up there!"

"How the heck are we supposed to do that?!" Raven snapped.

Brandon sighed and motioned for her to come over by him. She reluctantly came over to him, watching as he bent down and held his hands out.

"Step on my hands and I'll lift you up!"

"…Fine…" she muttered and did so. He lifted her up to the hole, which she grabbed a hold of and tried to pull herself up into. Yellow hurried over to help, or at least try to help, while the others watched her try to pull herself up in the hole.

The inside of the hole was actually a long tunnel of the same size and shape as the entrance. Raven frowned and tried to pull herself into the tunnel until her body was all the way in the tunnel. "…Now what?"

"You tell us!"

Raven rolled her eyes. "Well, it's a tunnel!… That's all."

Brandon looked over at Yellow, Tate, Liza, and Wally. "Your turn! Let's go, come on!"

One by one, the other four all climbed up into the cramped tunnel. Once they were all in it, well, they began crawling down the tunnel. However, the small size of it didn't give them much room to move, causing them to keep on stepping on the other one's hands or running into each other.

Raven sighed and stopped crawling down the tunnel. "…It's too cramped in here."

"Yeah…" Yellow agreed. "Um, Mr. Brandon! Can you hear me…?"

"Loud and clear!"

"Wow… Didn't think he would," Tate muttered only to have his sister, who was in front of him, step on his hand. "Ow, stop it!"

Yellow sighed quietly as the two started shouting and hitting each other. "Um, how far is this tunnel…?"

"Well, you should see an exit up ahead. Do you?"

"Raven, do you see anything?" Yellow asked Raven, who was in front of her. Raven nodded and pointed at where light shone at the end of the tunnel.

"Right up there."

Yellow nodded and looked back at Tate and Liza, who hadn't stopped fighting. Wally, who was at the back of the group, looked ahead at her helplessly and shrugged.

Raven, meanwhile, had begun to crawl ahead again. Much to her surprise, the exit was a lot closer than it looked. Once she reached the end of it, she pulled herself out onto the second floor.

And again to her surprise, the exit was at the very bottom of the wall. Once she was out she sat up completely and looked back into the tunnel, where the other four were still at. Yellow was now trying to make the twins stop fighting while Wally simply protected himself from Tate's unintentional kicks.

"Hey, guys! Hurry up!" Raven shouted. They all stopped talking and looked ahead, nodding and crawling down it. Meanwhile, Raven continued sitting there, pulling small pieces of rocks that were stuck in her scraped up knees.

When the other four all reached the second floor, they called back to Brandon. "We've reached the second floor!"

"Good! Now, you need to be careful of this floor and the ones above!" Brandon answered back. "The floors are real weak and they'll break if you try to run across it!"

Liza scratched her head and looked at the others. "Why would we need to run…?" she whispered and they shrugged.

Wally bent down and looked at the floor carefully. He reached out and pressed his hand on the floor. Seeing as how it didn't react, he tried to press his entire weight on the floor. It didn't break. Wally stood up and reached his foot on, stepping on the floor.

"If we're really careful, I don't think it'll break…" he mumbled. He moved his other foot to the place in front of him and stood still, hoping that nothing would break. When he was sure that nothing would break anytime soon, he motioned for the others to follow.

"If I die today, it's your fault," Tate said. Liza reached out and smacked the back of his head. "Will you quit hitting me?!"

Wally smiled. "That's fine. If anyone… gets hurt, it'll be my fault," he said, obviously refusing to say the word die.

The group continued to slowly cross the floor, heading to the other side where a flight of stairs in the wall were. All of a sudden, the ground under Yellow cracked and began to break. She screamed loudly and hopped backwards, the ground where she just jumped on starting to break as well.

"Yellow, be careful!" Liza shouted, watching Yellow hop around. "No, wait a sec, don't do that!"

Yellow let out another scream and started running across the floor towards the other side. The floor beneath her crumbled easily, dropping down below. Someway, somehow, she reached the stairs and fell down on them, trying to catch her breath.

"…Wow…" Raven muttered. "I wanna try that too!"

"No, don't-" Wally began but was left speechless as said girl began running across the floor. She wasn't as fast as Yellow, however, and very nearly fell through the floor. When she finally reached the area around the stairs that wouldn't crack, she stopped running and raised her hands in the air, cheering loudly.

"I win!"

Wally sighed in relief. "You scared me… I thought you would've fallen…"

"Wally-!" Liza shouted. "The ground everywhere is breaking!"

Wally looked beneath himself to see the ground had started to break. He quickly ran across the floor, although he was much slower than the other two. The floor beneath him broke completely and he fell down into the dark area beneath the floor…

Something pulled on the back of his shirt. He looked up in fright to see that a yellow, rock Pokémon had caught him in its mouth and was holding him there. It floated upwards before carrying across the floor to where Tate, Liza, Raven, and Yellow stood by the stairs. Much to Wally's surprise, nearly all of the floor had crumbled, even places they hadn't touched…

The Pokémon set him down on the ground gently. Liza took out a Poké Ball and returned it before she looked at Wally in concern. He had begun to clutch his chest and was reaching into his pocket for something.

"S-sorry…" he mumbled and took out an inhaler, putting it to his mouth and pressing the button. After he seemed to be okay, he put the inhaler back in his pocket. "I'm sorry you guys… I guess I wasn't fast enough…"

"No need to say sorry!" Liza said cheerfully and put a hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay though…?"

Wally nodded. "I'm fine! Sometimes my inhaler doesn't work though and that's why I have my Roselia, since she helps me breath again…"

"Enough chit chat!" Raven shouted and began running up the stairs. "To the next floor we go!"

Yellow stood up and began following her. Wally, Tate, and Liza did so as well, although Wally stopped to look back at the room before going up.


	54. Chapter Fifty Three

Chapter Fifty-Three

Raven reached the top of the stairs and the third floor, jumping out excitedly. "Okay, let's-"

She stopped mid-sentence as a purple Pokémon with claws jumped out at her. She put her arms in front of herself for defense but, to her surprise, one of her Pokémon let themselves out of their Poké Ball and attacked the Pokémon.

Guru-n had been the one to do so and slashed out at the Pokémon quickly. He knocked it back across the room where it got up and jumped at them again.

Yellow reached the top of the stairs and took out her own Poké Ball. "Chuchu, use Thunder Wave!"

Chuchu came out of the ball and small sparks of electricity jumped from her body, striking the attacking Pokémon and making it stand still. It growled at them angrily as they came up on the floor, glaring at the group despite being unable to do anything.

"Well, that was unexpected," Tate said, looking at the Pokémon. "Man, he looks like he wants to eat us or something…"

Yellow nodded. "It does seem a bit vicious…"

Tate paused for a moment and looked around. "I think something's…"

Just then, several Pokémon came out of thin air and began screaming at them and flying around their heads. The group began running across the room, Guru-n and Chuchu keeping the attacking Pokémon back. Once they reached the stairs, the two Pokémon turned around and ran up the stairs, not bothering to check if the Pokémon were chasing them.

The next few floors were much of the same things. Pokémon attacking them and places where the ground broke, usually both occurring at the same time. Guru-n and Chuchu continued to keep the Pokémon back.

Finally, the group decided to take a rest in one of the stairways. They all rested on the stairs, trying to catch their breath. Yellow had moved over to Guru-n and Chuchu and put a hand over their heads.

She shut her eyes and concentrated carefully. A small glow emitted from her hands and the two Pokémon's injuries seemed to start healing quickly until they were no longer there. Yellow looked behind herself to see that the other four were looking at her in surprise.

"…You can heal Pokémon?" Wally started in awe. "That's so cool!"

Yellow laughed sheepishly. "It's nothing, really…"

Liza seemed to think for a moment. "…You know, I was thinking. Winona said she chose us to go here because we were the five smallest trainers in Hoenn but… I've seen kids older than me but smaller as well!"

"You mean, you think she's lying?" Raven asked.

"Not exactly!" Liza said and shook her head. "I've thought about it and it seems to make sense now… Tate and I both have psychic abilities, with him being able to sense things that no one else can see and me being able to sense things about to happen. Yellow has healing powers while Raven and Wally…" Liza stopped for a moment and looked up at where Raven sat. "Well, I think I remember Brawly saying something about you being able to talk to Pokémon that no one else can understand?"

Raven shrugged. "I don't know. Brawly's just crazy."

"And Wally…" Liza looked over at Wally. "Wally, do you have any kind of special abilities at all, even slightly?"

Wally scratched his head sheepishly. "I don't think I do…"

"So, what you mean is, maybe Winona picked us because of our powers…?" Yellow asked.

Liza nodded. "I think. Although it might just be a coincidence, but really? Four, possibly five, of us all having psychic-like powers?"

Raven shrugged. "So what? Maybe she did, maybe she didn't. I'm more concerned with getting Rayquaza to stop all this so I can get some sleep in peace."

Tate nodded in agreement. "I think I can sleep for a 100 years!"

Yellow stood up, fixing her hat slightly. "Well, should we get going now?"

Everyone else nodded and they all began going up the stairs. Tate stopped walking and narrowed his eyes at something ahead. "Everyone, stop!"

All of them stopped, with Raven running into something in front of her. She stepped back and saw a wall in front of her. Looking down, she saw there was a small space at the very bottom. "What, more of this size restricting crap?"

"I think there's something ahead…" Tate said and hurried past them to where Raven was. He bent down to look through the space, seeing only darkness. "This goes out into the next floor, I'm sure. But look at how dark it is…"

"Well, that's creepy," Raven muttered.

Chuchu jumped atop of Yellow's head. "I can light up the area a bit, if you'd like!"

"That'd be good, thank you," Tate said and looked at the darkness ahead. "…I'll go first, okay?"

"Sure, I'm not going first anytime soon," Raven answered.

Tate laid down, trying to slid underneath the wall through the space. When he got through, he found the room to be so dark that he couldn't see a single thing in front of himself. Chuchu went under the wall and jumped onto Tate's head quickly. The end of her tail began to light up, lighting up the area around them, but only by a bit.

"Oh, wait! I'm gonna shout for Brandon, Pearl, and Brendan and tell them how we're doing," Yellow said, watching as Raven started trying to go through the space. "Hey guys, can you hear us?!"

After a moment, she heard Brandon shout back, "Yep!"

"We're doing fine so far, but this floor we're about to go on is completely dark!" Yellow paused for a moment. "…Is it something that should be here?"

"I don't know why it's completely dark!" Brandon shouted back. "But you'll know you're close to the top when you reach a wall in the stairs! You'll have to go under the space then!"

"A wall…?" Yellow mumbled and looked back at the wall. "Wait a second, that means we're almost at the top!"

Liza, who was now going under the wall, sighed in relief. "That's great! I've really had enough of these stairs and stuff…"

Yellow gulped and watched as Liza went onto the next floor. She bent down to try to go under the space only to that her hat kept getting in the way. Despite this, she managed to get underneath it and still keep her hat on. She found herself next to Tate, who had Chuchu sitting on his head with her tail light up. The light only light up a small area around them, and the other three, as well as Guru-n, were all trying to stay in the light.

"We're almost at the top!" Yellow said happily. "That means we've almost reached our goal!"

"All right! Let's get going!" Tate shouted and stood up quickly, Chuchu pulling tightly on his hair trying to stay on.

Wally looked down at where the light surrounded them. For some reason, the darkness seemed to flicker, almost like a candlelight, for a moment. Wally frowned but shook his head, ignoring it.

They began moving through the pitch black room, using Chuchu's light to guide them. Guru-n tapped on Raven's shoulder and she looked up at him. "What?"

"W-well…" he began and looked around nervously. "I'm not really psychic or anything but… I don't think this darkness is natural, you know?"

Raven tapped her chin. "Then… Guru-n, I'd like you to slash at it, will you?"

Guru-n nodded. The group stopped walking and Guru-n swung one of his arms at the darkness. Everyone screamed when the darkness jumped back and returned to surround them. It began invading the area of light that Chuchu created, hand-like shapes reaching out at their legs.

"Run like you've never run before!" Raven shouted. Just as she started to run, though, Guru-n stopped her and pushed her behind himself.

"Don't run at all!"

Wally looked around nervously as the darkness continued getting into the light. He felt it grab his feet and he screamed, trying to run. However, it felt like something grabbed his shoulders and then his entire body, pulling him back from them.

He felt something jump onto his body as the darkness surrounded him completely and saw a Pichu clinging onto his shirt. In a quick moment, the Pichu began electrocuting both him and whatever was grabbing him. The darkness pulled off of him and slithered back away from them.

"Whirlpool!"

A twister of water began growing until it filled the entire room, sucking up all the darkness within it. That was what seemed to happen, but the darkness really simply disappeared into thin air. The twister broke and water splashed everywhere, leaving a group of Pokémon soaking wet and rather disappointed.

"Wally!" Raven shouted and hurried to where Wally lay on the ground with Pichu sitting on his stomach. "You okay?"

Raven sat him up and shook him around. "Hey! Wally! W-a-l-l-y!"

Wally suddenly starting coughing and Raven reached towards his pocket, taking out his inhaler. She handed it to him, holding him up as he brought it to his mouth and pressed the button.

He coughed once more and sighed, reaching out to pat Pichu's head, who had jumped off him and stood next to his side. "Thank you…"

"Man, you scared me!" she said and hugged him tightly. "I thought you were dead!"

"…I don't think I'd die that easily…" Wally said and laughed. He looked up to see the group of Pokémon that'd been causing the darkness around them. The Pokémon, all of a dark black or purple color, all huddled together, looking at them with frowns. "Those are the Pokémon…?"

Pichu nodded. "That's them. I don't like them, specially that small one on the right. He looks weird."

Raven rolled her eyes and sighed. Meanwhile, Tate, Liza, and Yellow returned the Pokémon that they'd sent out. Chuchu remained on Tate's head, looking down at Piplup, who was looking at the group of Pokémon.

"They don't have a single clue who they're messing with!" Piplup said proudly and stuck out his chest. "We took care of them, easily!"

"No fair…" one of the Pokémon said in a hoarse, echo-like voice. "We never get anyone to mess with! Just let us mess with you!"

Piplup rolled his eyes. "Like anyone would ever let you do that! Listen, we have something really important to do right now, so you stopping us ain't helping at all!"

The group of Pokémon looked at one another and then back at Piplup. "Oh yeah, like what?"

"We're the super awesome team here to wake up Rayquaza so he can stop Kyogre and Groudon from fighting! They've been at it for over, like, a week! And we'd like him to help!"

"…Wait, what?"

"Never mind that!" Raven said as she and Wally stood up. "Come on guys, let's go to the next floor!"

"Wait a sec! Leave your Pokémon here so we can play with them a bit!"

"…No."

The Pokémon sighed as they all began heading up the flight of stairs across the room. The stairs seemed to be longer than before, and also didn't seem to be as dark. The higher they went the brighter it got.

When they finally reached the top, they all skidded to a stop and covered their eyes. The room was extremely bright, at least it was compared to the other floors. The room was extremely tall, windows being scattered along the walls. Outside the windows, the sky could be seen, completely dark. Despite this darkness, it was still bright in the room.

"W-wow…" Liza said slowly and walked out into the room, looking around in awe. "Is this… the final floor?"

"If it is, then where's Rayquaza?" Tate asked, hurrying out to join his sister.

As if on command, a low grumble was heard. Raven, Yellow, Wally, Guru-n, Pichu, and Piplup all hurried out to them and looked to their right to see a huge, green serpent Pokémon lying in the center of the room, curled up. It looked at them with a half-opened eye and its face looked almost amused at the sight of them.

"I-I-is that…" Wally stammered and pointed at the Pokémon. "R-Rayquaza?!"

The Pokémon uncurled itself and got up, stretching out its long body. It curled its body up once again, although this time it didn't lay down and looked at them all with a still amused look.

"…Liza, how about you say something to him?" Tate asked. His legs were shaking together and even his teeth were chattering.

"Why me?! You do it!" she answered back, her legs also shaking.

Rayquaza slammed its tail on the ground, making everyone scream. It narrowed its eyes at them, although it seemed more like it was looking at Tate and Liza.

Wally gulped and stepped ahead of the group to stand in front of Rayquaza. "E-eh… R-Rayquaza, please… we need your help!"

Rayquaza tilted its head curiously and Wally continued. "About a week ago, two men woke Groudon and Kyogre from their sleep in order to try to control the two. But Groudon and Kyogre only started fighting and, well, they haven't stopped…"

"They've destroyed a lot of Hoenn, you know?" Yellow added. "And the weather effects they cause are flooding and burning places up too…"

Raven heard something beeping and looked back at Tate and Liza. Liza had taken out a PokéNav and opened it up, a voice coming out.

"You guys are… bzz… at the top of the tower now, right?"

"Uh, yeah!" Liza answered. "We're talking to Rayquaza right now so…"

"Rayquaza, if you… bzz… won't listen to this kids, then listen… bzz… to me! Countless people… bzz… lost their lives trying… bzz… bzz… Kyogre and Groudon! People… bzz… like Norman and… bzz… bzz… help… bzz…"

The PokéNav cut off the signal to Brandon and went silent.

"…Norman?" Raven said and her face when blank.

Wally looked back at Rayquaza. "Yeah, just like Brandon and Yellow said! Rayquaza, we've heard that you can help us, that you can stop the two from fighting! So, please, help us out!"

Rayquaza seemed to consider this and tilted its head. After a moment, it shut its eyes and nodded slowly.

"…You'll help us? Really?!"

Rayquaza nodded yet again and all of them began jumping around and cheering happily. All, that is, except for Raven, who still stood there with a blank face. Rayquaza bent its head down to them and they stop cheering for a moment.

Yellow took a guess. "Do you want us to get on your head?"

Rayquaza nodded and the cheering started once again. Wally was the first one to climb on, since he was closet to Rayquaza, followed by Yellow, Tate, and Liza. Guru-n, Pichu, and Piplup looked at Raven expectantly, only to see that she still hadn't move.

Raven looked up at them. "…Did Brandon say people like Norman?"

"I think so. I think he said that lots of people like Norman lost their lives trying to stop Groudon and Kyogre," Liza said thoughtfully. "How come?"

Raven hesitated before shaking her head. She took out three Poké Balls and returned her Pokémon to them before hurrying over to Rayquaza and climbing up on its head with the others. All of them sat next to two horn-like things that came out of its head, holding onto them tightly.

"Location?"

The group looked at each other before realizing that the voice belonged to Rayquaza. "Around Sootopolis City!"

Rayquaza nodded. "Hold on tight…"


	55. Chapter Fifty Four

Author's Notes: Rewrote this chapter on October 1st, 2010. Why, you ask? 'Cause... it sucked. I was rereading it, and I thought "Damn, this is bad... Oh, wait, I should rewrite it!"

...Yeah. Maybe it seems better now. I think it does.

* * *

Chapter Fifty-Four

Down on the very first floor of Sky Pillar, Brandon began shaking around his PokéNav, just losing the signal to Tate and Liza's PokéNav. Once he realized that he wasn't going to be getting the signal back anytime soon, he sighed and put the PokéNav in his pocket. He turned around to face Pearl and Brendan.

"I'm pretty sure that they'll be able to get Rayquaza to listen to them. So, our mission is done!"

Brandon noticed the rather shocked and confused looks that the two were giving him. "…Is something wrong?"

"Did you say… that Norman was dead?" Brendan asked.

"Yep. He's the Gym Leader of Petalburg City. Maybe you've challenged him?" Brandon asked back. "But what's with that look? Did you know the guy?"

Brendan looked at Pearl, who was frowning. "He's Raven's father. If she heard that he's dead…"

"Wait, you mean Winona didn't…?" Brandon began but smacked himself on the head. "Oh, damn! What've I done now?"

All of a sudden, a loud crash was heard up in the tower. The three all looked up quickly before hurrying outside to see a long, green serpent flying through the sky in the direction of Sootopolis.

"Is that Rayquaza?" Brendan asked.

Brandon nodded and took out a Poké Ball. "It is! And we're following it! Come on, let's go!"

* * *

As Rayquaza flew through the sky, the five children held onto it tightly. Wind whipped around them, making their hair fly around. Yellow was holding onto her hat tightly, Chuchu sitting in her lap.

"…Wait a second!" Wally said and looked over at Raven, who sat next to Yellow, holding onto her arm. "Raven… Norman's your father, isn't he?"

Raven nodded slowly. Wally's face saddened and he looked forward. "…I'm sorry…"

"Wait, he's your father?" Liza asked. "I didn't know that!"

"Yep. He is…"

"And he…" Liza began but frowned. "…Well, he died trying to stop Groudon and Kyogre. So…"

"Whatever," Raven said and shook her head. "I can think about that later. Anyways, let's just focus on what we're already doing!"

The others all nodded. Rayquaza seemed to be paying no attention to anything they talked about, focusing solely on finding their location.

* * *

"Norman… he's really dead?" Flannery asked.

Winona and Solana both nodded. Brawly said nothing while Archie and Maxie simply looked at each other in confusion and shrugged.

"He wanted me to give that Pokémon to Raven just before he died…" Solana mumbled. "He said that he hoped she and her friends would be able to stop Groudon and Kyogre, something that he had failed to do… That's what he said to me…"

Brawly scratched his head in confusion. "Wait, but why Raven, of all people?"

Solana looked up at him. "Because she's his daughter, that's why!" she snapped. She quickly covered her mouth and looked down at the ground. "I'm sorry…"

"But how'd he die?" Flannery asked. "I don't get it!"

"He had… some kind of thing in his hand…" Solana mumbled. "It looked like the Red and Blue Orbs, but was smaller and a different color. He said something about helping everyone out and then it broke. And then he just collapsed…"

Maxie looked surprised. "…What color was it?"

Solana frowned. "I don't know… Green, maybe?"

"Green…" Maxie muttered and looked down at the ground. "If I could take a guess, it was the power from that that broke the Red and Blue Orbs. I would guess that the toll it took on this man's body was too much for him to handle and that would be what caused his death…"

"How do you know that's what broke them?" Brawly asked.

"A mere guess, that's all," Maxie said and looked back at Solana. "And was it some time after that tremors were felt?"

Solana nodded. "Yeah, but how do you know that?"

"Well, a bit after the Red and Blue Orbs broke, Archie here tried to collapse the cave we were in," Maxie explained. "And since the times of these events seem to match, I would guess that's what happened."

Winona nodded in agreement. "He's right. That thing Norman held must've been a piece, or perhaps the entire Green Orb. It was something that people made in a hope that they could control Rayquaza like how the Red and Blue Orbs controlled Groudon and Kyogre, but it didn't work in the same way since it was man-made. But still, I didn't think that it would even have an effect at all on the other two orbs…"

"Better yet, how did that man get his hands on it?" Maxie asked, although the question seemed to be something he was asking himself.

Flannery still looked confused, as well as Brawly. Flannery's eyes widened and she asked, "Does Raven know that her father isn't alive?"

Solana and Winona both shook their heads. "I couldn't bring myself to tell her…" Solana muttered.

However, Flannery was already running off in the direction Raven and Yellow had headed in. "Raven! Where are you?"

Both Brawly and Winona chased after her quickly. "Flannery, don't tell her!" Winona snapped. "If you do, I'm sure she wouldn't be able to do what we need her and the others to do!"

Flannery shook her head. "You can't let her go on being happy, thinking that her father is alive and that he'll be waiting here for her, to congratulate her! That'd make things worse!"

Brawly caught Flannery first, grabbing her arm and stopping her from running. She tried to pull away from him, but to no avail, finally just giving up on running. Flannery spotted a girl with an orange bandana running in their direction and frowned.

"Oh, hey! You two seen Winona anywhere?" the girl asked and hurried over to them. "I've been ordered to go tell her that Raven, Brendan, Pearl, and all those other people left for Pacifidlog Town!"

"Wha-?" Flannery began and looked down at the ground. "Darn it!"

The girl looked at them in confusion, tilting her head to the side.

* * *

"I can see Sootopolis!" Liza shouted and pointed at the city. Or rather, what remained of the city. Rayquaza nodded in response and seemed to fly even faster towards it. "But I don't see Groudon and Kyogre anywhere…"

Rayquaza dove down towards the city, catching the attention of just about everyone there. People could be heard cheering happily at the appearance of it, waving their arms around happily. Tate raised his hands and began waving back at them, Liza keeping an arm around his waist to keep him still.

Rayquaza looked up at the children and took a quick look over the destroyed city known at Sootopolis. Many buildings were destroyed and Rayquaza could tell that many people were probably injured down there.

Perhaps it was because Rayquaza was looking over the city that it didn't notice the beams of light flying towards it. It finally looked up and saw them, although now there was no time for Rayquaza to fly away.

The beams crashed into Rayquaza, making it lose its control on flying and causing it to fall into the already destroyed city below. Half of its body fell into the water while the other half landed on the ground.

Rayquaza got up from the ground, roaring loudly at its unseen attackers. Right now its main focus was finding and attacking whatever attacked it first, and it was because of this that Rayquaza never noticed the absence of the five people and one Pokémon that were on its head.

Chunks and pieces of rock had flown everywhere from Rayquaza's crashing, and many people were trying to stand up after it.

Brandon, Brendan, and Pearl had been following not too far behind Rayquaza, riding on the back of Pearl's Tropius since Brandon didn't seem to have any flying Pokémon with him. Once they saw that Rayquaza had fallen and gotten up, they flew down to the city in a hurry.

Even before Tropius landed on the ground, Brendan jumped off its back and landed on the ground. Despite the sudden pain he felt in his hand, he began looking around frantically for something.

He knew for sure that when he saw Rayquaza get back up, it didn't have Raven, Yellow, Wally, Tate, or Liza on its head anymore. That would mean they would've fallen off when Rayquaza fell…

"Brendan? Is that you?"

Brendan looked over at the sound of the voice to see Brawly nearby. He was currently helping Flannery stand back up; apparently, she'd fallen down from the tremors.

"Have you seen any of them?"

"Who?"

"Who do you think! The others! They were on Rayquaza's head until it fell! Have you seen them?"

Brawly grimaced. "…If they fell…"

Brendan suddenly spotted something green and hurried towards it. It must've been Wally; no one else had green hair like that. Near the green head of hair, he spotted two other figures, clad in blue. That would be Tate and Liza… He'd check on them after Wally.

However, as he got closer to the figures, he slowed down. Sure enough, he saw Wally. But Wally hadn't moved at all, and he lay face down on the ground. Brendan began panicking as he knelt down next to Wally and grabbed his shoulder, shaking him around.

"Wally? Are you okay?"

Wally still didn't move and, now that Brendan could see him up close, he saw that there was blood on the side of his head. His nose was bent at a horrible angle, and his eyes were shut.

"…"

Brendan bit his lip as he looked away. He moved Wally, though without looking at him, so he lay on his back. Brendan got up quickly and looked off in the direction that he was sure Tate and Liza were in.

However, he saw someone else already there by them.

At sometime after Brendan had got to Wally, Brawly had reached Tate and Liza to check on them. However, Brawly didn't seem to be very happy at the sight of Tate and Liza, and as he looked up to look at Brendan, his eyes were wide in shock.

"These two… they're…"

Brendan looked down at the ground and nodded slightly. "…So is Wally…"

Brendan then began searching around the area for the other two left; Yellow and Raven. Although, now that three of them were dead… He couldn't feel very hopeful about the other two. He then spotted a small, yellow shape and stood up, running towards it.

Chuchu lay on the ground, the flower that was usually on her ear torn and ripped. Unlike the other three, however, Chuchu was still alive and looked up at Brendan as he approached.

Brendan quickly picked Chuchu up and held her tightly in his arms. "Are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine…" Chuchu mumbled and looked around, a solemn expression on her face. "But… where are…?"

"I'm looking for them right now, don't worry," Brendan said and quickly hurried around, still holding Chuchu. Despite having told the Pokémon not to worry, he couldn't help but do the exact opposite.

He suddenly spotted a blotch of orange running past him, and he spotted Nami running off somewhere. She jumped across several rocks before stopping "I found Yellow and Raven!" she shouted.

Brendan hurried after Nami as fast as he could, stumbling a couple of times and nearly dropping Chuchu. However, he already had a dreading feeling as he finally stopped next to Nami…

And saw the two girls.

Yellow and Raven laid next to each other, neither of them moving even slightly. Yellow's hat had fallen off and lay next to her head, her ponytail fluttering out around her.

Brendan bit his lip at the sight of the two, biting it hard enough to the point where he could taste blood. This wasn't a horrible nightmare at all; it was real.

He heard Nami sobbing quietly and looked over at her, seeing tears run down her face. She didn't bother to rub her face to get rid of the tears or anything, just sitting there and crying. Brendan knelt down next to her and he, too, began to cry.

"She… reminded me of my brother…" Nami said between sobs. "That's why… I-I liked her so much… But, you know… he… also died… S-so, I guess, she was kind of like a replacement of my brother, y-you know? But… I didn't think that… she would also…"

Brendan didn't say anything, but instead placed a hand on her shoulder. Nami leaned over to him, crying on his shoulder and at the same time being careful not to lean on Chuchu, who also seemed to be crying.

A loud explosion was heard and they all ducked, covering their heads in case of any flying rocks or things.

"A-and Yellow… I wish I would've been able to be his… I mean, her friend…" Nami cried.

Brendan rubbed his eyes. This couldn't be happening… This couldn't be real. Surely, he must be dreaming… It's all a dream, it has to be!

His eyes shut tightly, he leaned over, shaking his head. It's a dream, it's a dream… When he wakes up, it'll all be over. He can laugh about it with everyone, about the crazy dream he had. Hell, maybe this entire journey across Hoenn was one big dream, maybe some kind of anticipation of the night before leaving to travel. Maybe he never met Raven or Yellow or any of the gym leaders…

And yet, it was all real. All of it was painfully real… And there was nothing that could be done to stop it….

Perhaps it was all just a part of fate…

And as he thought about all of these things, he didn't notice that everything was going white, all the sound was disappearing, and that he was suddenly alone in a blank, white world…


	56. Chapter Fifty Five

Author Notes: All that's left now is... er... Pokemon League and some other crap... I'm relieved to finally be done writing this Groudon vs. Kyogre stuff. ._. Excuse the sappyness at the end of the chapter.

* * *

Chapter Fifty-five

"Huh?"

Brendan opened his eyes and looked around. Everything around him was completely white. He looked down to see that Chuchu was no longer in his arms and that Nami was no longer next to him. Even when he checked for his Poké Balls, they were no longer there. In fact, even though he saw his hand touching his pants, he felt nothing. It felt like he was watching himself move around, unable to feel.

The light seemed to fade and Brendan stopped moving around, opting to close his eyes instead. The light got darker and darker, before everything seemed to go black.

After a bit, he heard the sound of something. At first, he couldn't tell what it was. But he soon realized that it was the sound of water, the sound of waves rising up and down. Brendan opened his eyes yet again and, at first, saw only white. In a quick moment, it faded and instead he saw the sky.

He didn't hear anything at first until his hearing came back, almost as quickly as his sight had. He heard people all talking, crying, moving around. Brendan tried to move his hand; when it responded, he pressed in on the ground and pushed himself up.

"Brendan!"

Brendan barely had time to see who it was before he was hugged tightly by his sister. She threw her arms around his neck and squeezed him tightly, making him feel like she was choking him. He realized she was crying and when she pulled away, he saw she was.

"I-I was so worried a-about you!" she cried.

Brendan felt confused for a moment. He couldn't remember what just happened, but it all suddenly came back to him; seeing everyone dead, hearing the Pokémon stop fighting…

"What about Groudon and Kyogre?! And Rayquaza too?!"

Pearl wiped tears away. "They were gone when we woke up. Except for Rayquaza, it was here when everyone started coming to."

"So… I wasn't dreaming then, huh?"

She shook her head. "No… Everyone here remembers everything that's happened but… take a look around, will you?"

Brendan listened to his sister and began looking around. They were still in Sootopolis City, but it was no longer destroyed. All the walls, buildings, stairs… everything was where it should've been. The city was the way it was before Groudon and Kyogre began their fight. Where they sat was right in front of the Sootopolis Gym.

"…The city's back to normal?" Brendan asked and Pearl nodded.

"Makes it all seem like a big dream, doesn't it? But if everyone remembers those things, and if Rayquaza and everyone else is here, then it wasn't a dream," she said. Pearl reached out to touch Brendan's hair and began pulling it in certain directions, making it stick up.

"What about Wally? And Tate and Liza… And Yellow and-"

"They're all fine," she answered and Brendan let out a sigh he didn't notice that he'd been holding. Pearl began hugging Brendan once again. "I'm really glad you're okay, Bren."

All of a sudden, Brendan's Pokémon let themselves out of their Poké Balls and jumped on him, hugging him tightly.

"B-b-Brendan!" Swampert cried as he hugged him tightly. He blew his noise on Brendan's shirt, earning himself a look of disgust. "I… I… Waaah!"

Grovyle stopped hugging Brendan and looked away sheepishly. "I was worried about everyone, actually. Not just you, so don't think you're special or anything…" he muttered.

Brendan smiled at them. "Glad that you guys are okay too…"

"B-Brendan?!"

Brendan looked behind himself to see Raven standing there with a look of shock. He covered his mouth to stifle a laugh and said, "Oh, did I just hear you stutter? Stutter my name? Was that what I heard?"

"No, it wasn't!" Raven snapped and began blushing furiously. "I'm stuttering about everything, so shut up!"

Brendan laughed quietly as he watched her continue to rant about things. He suddenly remembered how he had seen her dead and frowned at her.

"What? Why are you frowning?"

"Oh, nothing much. Just thinking about how your normal expression doesn't look much different from your dead expression."

"What the-?! It does look different, I know it does!"

Pearl finally let go of Brendan, sitting back and watching the two making comments to each other with an amused expression on her face.

Raven frowned. "Did you really see me dead?"

Brendan looked at her blankly. "Yep. I did. I didn't even cry."

"Oh, yeah, right!" Swampert interrupted and rolled his eyes. "I saw you! You were crying, although not like the bawling that Nami was doing…"

"Nami?! She was there?!"

Brendan nodded, trying to ignore Swampert as he tried to act the scene. "She was. And she was quite upset over both you and Yellow being... You know."

Raven snorted. "Yeah, great. A nut job crying over- Wait, Yellow was dead too?!"

"Yeah, all five of you were…" Brendan said. He hesitated, almost wanting to tell her about how her father had been dead as well. Was he alive too? Had everyone been brought back to life or only a few people?

Raven frowned and looked at ground. "…You know, I heard that Brandon guy say that… that my dad wasn't alive anymore… But I don't know, is everyone alive and okay? Cause what if my dad isn't… What if he's still-"

"You needn't worry about that, I'm perfectly fine."

Raven's eyes widened and she looked behind herself. Her father stood a bit away from where they were, his arms crossed over his chest. Brendan, who had quickly looked at Norman, looked back at Raven to see that she was on the verge of tears, which surprised him.

"Later on, tell me how your journey's been going, will you?" Norman asked.

Raven nodded and hurried over to her father, throwing her arms around him and burying her face in his shirt. Norman returned the hug, patting her head as she started sobbing.

"Doesn't it make you want to cry?" Pearl asked and Brendan looked at his sister, seeing her crying again.

"…It only makes women cry," he said and she smacked the back of his head.

Something white suddenly floated in front of Brendan's eyes and he blinked in surprise. He looked up to see more of the white things falling from the sky, falling slowly and silently. Everyone else started looking up as well, all wondering what these things were.

"…Snow!" Norman said and held out his hand, one of the white things landing on his hand. It melted almost immediately in his hand. "Well, I guess it is that time of year, isn't it?"

"I don't even know what the date is anymore," Raven muttered.

"I'm not sure either, but I'd guess that it's sometime in December!"

"…Seriously?"

Norman nodded. "And, hey, next month is the start of the Pokémon League! I assume you'll better entering it, right kiddo?"

Raven said nothing for a moment, her face still buried in his shirt. She nodded slowly. "Yeah, I guess so…"

Brendan looked over at his sister. "You think I'll have all the badges by then?"

Pearl nodded happily and pat his head. "I know you will!"

Brendan heard Norman say something that he didn't understand, so he looked back at him. Norman was looking down at Raven with amusement and when he noticed Brendan staring, he pointed down at Raven. "She's asleep."

Brendan grinned. "Well, that figures."


	57. Chapter Fifty Six

Author's Notes: ...It's quite hard to try and keep all the stories I've written updated. _ I should've known better than to do that...

Anyways, onward with the chapter!

* * *

Chapter Fifty-Six

Following all of what happened, many people quickly returned to doing things that they regularly did. Others tried to catch up on their sleep, something of which had been rather disturbed with the constant daylight that Groudon had brought.

Others, however, were still trying to explain what in the world had happened. How had everything become fixed so suddenly, as though it had never happened? Places that had been flooded, places that had caught on fire… those were back to normal as well. In fact, there was barely anything that would even suggest that such events had happened.

That said, the only things that proved that it had all happened were that everyone remembered everything that had happened, that Rayquaza had been in Sootopolis City, and that some people that had been injured still had the injuries that happened during it.

But, anyways. Everyone went back to doing whatever they did and Hoenn returned to normal, like nothing had ever happened.

At the time of the crisis ending, it was early December. And now it was January, which at mid-month would start the beginning of Hoenn's Pokémon League Challenge…

---

Raising her arms up in the air, Raven let out a loud yawn before slamming her head down on the table in front of her. Several dishes on the table moved a bit, but nothing broke.

"Raven, stop that!" her mother said and walked up behind her, grabbing the back of her shirt and pulling her up from the table. "Do you have to behave like a wild Pokémon all the time?"

"Yes," she yawned and looked over to her right, where Yellow sat in a chair next to her. Yellow was eating a bowl of cereal, trying her best to not spill anything. This didn't seem to be working out so well, as pieces of cereal kept falling on the table.

Norman sat across the table from the two, laughing at Raven. His wife looked at him in annoyance. "Norman, must you constantly encourage her?"

"I'm not encouraging her," Norman answered and reached across the table to pat Raven's head. "We all know that no matter what, Raven never gets encouraged about anything!"

"…Is that good or bad?" Yellow asked, smiling unsurely.

Norman crossed his arms across his chest. "Anyways, Raven, the Pokémon League in starting in a couple of days! Have you signed up for it yet?… Better yet, you probably don't know how, do you?"

Raven shook her head. "Don't have a clue… By the way, what's a Pokémon League?"

Raven's mother took a seat next to Norman. "…Are you seriously asking that?"

"Yes."

"Ooh, Norman, you've taught her _so_ much," she said sarcastically and shook her head.

"Well, let's see…" Norman started, tapping his chin. "The Pokémon League is a place where many tough trainers gather at, usually to take part in the challenge that starts every year. You'll need to have all eight badges to compete in it… What else can I think of?

"Oh, well, all the trainers competing battle against each other, and when the top four or five trainers are left, they start the Elite Four challenge, where you battle against the top five trainers from the previous year's tournament. If you beat the champion of the Elite Four, well…" Norman paused, apparently trying to think of something to say. "Let's just wait and see if that happens!"

"Kanto has a tournament like that too," Yellow added. "Twice a year, for both Kanto and Johto, since Johto doesn't have their own Pokémon League area. A friend of mine beat the champion of the Kanto Pokémon League a few years ago!"

Raven mumbled something to herself. "Well, I think I have all the badges… Tate and Liza gave me the Mind Badge 'cause they said that I deserved it and then that weird Wallace guy gave me a badge too… And then he kinda forced Winona to give me a badge too, 'cause he said that I deserved it too… And they did the same with Brendan and Wally, giving them badges… It's weird."

"Well, you guys _did_ make it all the way up Sky Pillar… And you guys even got to go to Mirage Island, of all places!" Norman said. "I wish I would've gone along too… But it reminds me of the days when I was traveling around with your mother! As much as I hate to admit it, she was a better trainer than me back then!"

Robin snorted. "There's no 'back then', sweetie. I can still beat you, anytime, anywhere." At that her mother stood up, walking over to their refrigerator. Norman was following behind her closely.

"Hey, is that a challenge?"

"If you want, sure. Don't know why you bother, you already know how'll end."

As the two continued their semi-argument, Yellow and Raven both got up from their seats and hurried upstairs to Raven's bedroom. Yellow had been staying at her home ever since they had decided to return back to Littleroot Town for a bit. Brendan and Pearl had decided to continue their own traveling around Hoenn; specifically, from Sootopolis City to Slateport, and then they said they would come back to Littleroot Town.

Yellow sat down on Raven's bed. "I think it's kind of fun to see your parents argue and stuff. I never got to know my own mother and father 'cause my mother left me with my uncle right after I was born so… Well, my uncle never got married, which I tell him is because he smokes and uses bad language!"

Yellow started shaking her head, mumbling things to herself as Raven watched her with amusement. Raven looked over to where a picture frame sat on a bookshelf and jumped up, getting it and returning to sit next to Yellow.

"These are my friends from back in Sinnoh," she said and held the photo out to her. The picture featured her and her friends with their arms around each others' shoulders, smiling at the camera with silly expressions. From the small size of them in the photo, it looked as though they were at least 9 or 10 years old.

"Ooh, wow!" Yellow said and looked at the picture in amazement. "How old were you in this picture?"

"Eleven years old."

"…Right," Yellow said and laughed.

Raven stood up yet again. "Hey, should we go and make sure Professor Birch hasn't killed himself from being alone in his lab?" she asked. Yellow had a confused look on her face by the randomly asked question but nodded.

---

"…Oh boy."

Raven and Yellow both stood at the entrance of Professor Birch's laboratory. All of the lights appeared to be off and papers were strewn everywhere. Books lied on the floor, many of them opened. Raven reached over to a light switch on the wall and turned it on.

"Looks like he must've had one of his moments again."

"…What?" Yellow asked, looking around the lab in confusion. Professor Birch was, somewhat predictably, not in sight at all. Her eyes landed on the open books, some which had small notes written in the corners of the pages.

Raven shook her head and began walking through the mess, heading towards a door in the back of the room. "Nothing. Come on, I'm sure all the other lights are turned off too."

Yellow followed after her. "…Is that supposed to make me want to follow you more?"

They walked through the door, entering a completely dark hallway. Leaving the door open, the pair proceeded to walk down the hallway, stumbling over things lying there several times. They finally found another door, opening it and entering another dark room. Raven felt around the wall until she found a light switch.

The lights slowly flickered to life, although many of them were dim or not on at all. The room was filled with shelves, filled with Poké Balls. As well as papers thrown around everywhere.

"…Well, he's not here. To the next room we go!" Raven shouted and grabbed Yellow's hand, the two both leaving the room as well as leaving the door open.

The two started going farther down the hall until they both ran into a wall, which was obviously the end of the hallway. Feeling along the wall, Raven found another doorknob and opened it.

This door didn't lead to another dark room, however. It led outside, and the bright sunlight that greeted the pair made them both squeeze their eyes shut. Blinking it away, the two walked outside, with Raven making sure to leave the door open.

Someone stepped up behind Raven and put their hands over her eyes. "What the-?!" she started but then she heard a familiar voice.

"How's it going?"

"Brendan!?" Raven snapped, half in surprise and half in anger. He uncovered her eyes and she spun around to look at the white haired boy, who stood there with a somewhat smug smile. "What the heck're you doing?!"

Pearl had covered Yellow's eyes at the same time Brendan had, and was now letting the rather frightened girl go. She smiled and waved to them.

"How're you guys doing? Feels like forever since I've seen you."

"It was a relief without you two here to boss me around!" Raven said, shrugging. "By the way, where's your dad?"

Brendan's smile grew even more. "Why? You so stupid that you have to ask him a question?"

"No!" Raven snapped. "Yellow and I came here to make sure he wasn't dead in his lab."

"Well, he's not. He's somewhere out around Oldale Town, doing 'research', or so he says."

Raven muttered something under her breath. "…So? What've you guys been doing?"

"Let's see…" Brendan muttered and began counting things off on his fingers. "First off, we headed to Lilycove and I entered a contest, which I _won_, by the way. Then we took a boat to Slateport City, where Pearl and I both decided to take part in the Battle Tent that was there. We stayed in Slateport for a long time too… Right, we went to this guy who called himself the 'Trick Master' and beat a couple of the puzzles he had set up. Blah, blah, blah, we headed back here from there."

"…Wow," the two both said.

"And we bought you two lots of stuff!" Pearl added happily. "Unfortunately I had to spend the holidays with my brother, as usual…"

Brendan glared at his sister. "Shut up."

For a moment, none of them said anything and rather just stood there, looking at one another. Finally, Raven said something.

"So now what?"

"Oh, right!" Pearl said, sounding surprised. "I almost forgot! Come on, let's head back to your house!"

"Why does it always have to be _my_ house? Can't we-"

But alas, it was too late. Pearl was already heading off towards Raven's home with Brendan being dragged along by his arm. Raven sighed and looked at Yellow. With a smile, Yellow grabbed Raven's hand and began running after Pearl and Brendan eagerly.

---

Making it back to Raven's home in less than 5 minutes, the group entered the home quickly, only to be greeted by a group of people already inside there.

"I _knew _it. I knew you were going to do something like this!"

"Hey Raven! How are you!?"

From where she sat on a couch, Nami jumped up and spun around. She raised one arm and began waving it quickly, a grin on her face. Wally happened to be sitting next to her and turned around timidly, raising his hand slightly and waving as well.

And from upstairs, a voice shouted, "Did you say Raven?! Ooh!"

"…Oh god," Raven muttered as she heard something running down the stairs.

And what came downstairs was the most feminine, non-female person that everyone in the room had ever seen. Long, purple hair and dressed in a green outfit that appeared to perhaps resemble a Pokémon. He hurried over to Raven and grabbed her hands, shaking them up and down.

"I've wanted to meet you for _such_ a long time!" he said happily.

"Let go of me!" she snapped and tried her best to pull away from him. Unfortunately, his grip was tight and there would be no escaping.

"The name's Harley! Vice president of the Raven Fan Club! I'm your number 2 fan, the 1st being Nami-chan!"

Wally tilted his head. "There's a Raven Fan Club?"

Raven stared at Harley in horror. "It _does_ exist! There really was a 2nd person!"

"Well, of course!" Harley continued, edging his face ever closer to Raven's. "As soon as Nami-chan told me about you, I was captivated! I was an instant fan! I-N-S-T-A-N-T!"

He looked over at Yellow quickly, but instead of the happy look he was giving Raven, he narrowed his eyes at her. "…And who are you?"

"Yellow."

He ignored her answer and looked back at Raven. "But wow! You're so tiny! Nami-chan had said that you were small, but I didn't think you'd be _this_ tiny!"

Pearl walked behind Harley and yanked his hair, causing him to shout something and spin around to glare at her. Pearl held up a hand to him just as he was about to say something, thus silencing the odd man.

"Anyways, everyone, listen up!" Pearl shouted. "We're going to discuss our traveling plans now! So, first up, we're all going to Evergrande City since that's where the Pokémon League's being held!"

Harley started clapping excitedly.

"But first, to get there, we're taking a boat!"

Raven pretended to start vomiting.

"Raven, shut up. And so, we'll all stay there for the entire month the Pokémon League is happening! Isn't that exciting?"

Raven and Brendan raised their hands. "No!" they shouted happily.

"Troops, we're heading to Slateport City tomorrow to catch a boat! Who's ready!?"

"We're aren't!" Raven and Brendan shouted.

"Both of you, shut up!" Pearl snapped.

The three began arguing and, as they did so, Raven's parents walked in through the front door. Raven's mother wore a smirk on her face, shaking her head and saying, "I told you so!"

Norman wore a look of horror on his face and was looking down at the minimized Poké Balls in his hands. "I… can't believe that my precious team lost to my _wife_, of all people. Losing to my daughter was bad enough, but my wife? What's happened to us?"

"…Hey, I can hear you," Raven muttered, turning around to look at her parents. "And I guess Mom whooped your butt, am I right?"

Norman didn't answer but Robin hurried over to Raven, patting her on the head. "Yes, your father lost to me! Remember, you got your looks _and_ battling skills from me!"

"Luckily, Raven only inherited half of your temper."

Robin looked back at him. "I'm sorry, what'd you say?"

Norman shook his head. "Um, nothing. Anyways… Is it me or are there a lot of people in here?"

"It's just you," Brendan answered quickly. "All of it's a figment of your imagination. Well, except losing to your wife. That's not your imagination."

As Norman slowly walked off somewhere to be depressed, Robin decided to start talking. "So, what's everyone doing…?"

"Planning world domination," Raven answered.

Pearl sighed. "We were actually deciding to leave for a ship in Slateport City tomorrow so we could all get going to Evergrande City, since the Pokémon League's coming up."

"I see…" Robin said and gave the group of people a quick look over. "All of you are entering it…?"

Nami raised her hand excitedly. "Oh! I know the answer! It's, uh… Maybe!"

Robin laughed. "Well, I hope all of you do well, if you're all entering…" She then reached out and grabbed her daughter's shoulder, pulling her into a hug. "And if Raven bothers you, don't be afraid to knock a little sense into her."

"…Great, my mother's giving them permission to kill me…" Raven muttered. "Not like that ever stopped them before…"

* * *

Pardon the totally random inclusion of Harley. (You know, the crazy one from anime... If you've watched it.)


	58. Chapter Fifty Seven

Chapter Fifty-Seven

"_If you'd all look over to the right side of the boat, you'll be able to see some wild Luvdisc and Wailmer following the boat!_"

Raven and Yellow both hurried excitedly to the right side of the boat they were on. Leaning over the railing, they saw several pink shapes swimming around a much larger dark blue one. A spray of water shot up in the air from the back of the blue Pokémon and a few of the pink Pokémon jumped out of the water.

"Luvdisc, the rendezvous Pokémon. Height, 2 feet. Weight, 19.2 pounds. It lives in warm seas. It is said that a couple finding this Pokémon will be blessed with eternal love."

With a frown on her face, Raven turned around to look at Nami, who was standing behind them with her Poké Dex opened up.

"…What're you doing?"

"Just wanted to check the Poké Dex entry for Luvdisc!" Nami said happily and pressed a button. "Wanna hear Wailmer's?"

"No."

"Wailmer, the ball whale Pokémon. Height, 6 feet 7 inches. Weight, 286.6 pounds. On sunny days, it lands on beaches to bounce like a ball and play. It spouts water from its nose."

Raven stared at her blankly. Yellow started laughing quietly and Nami gave Raven an equally blank look.

Tilting her head to the side and looking at Nami curiously, Raven muttered, "…You seem to have calmed down a bit."

"Calmed down?"

"Yeah, with your creepy obsession with me."

Nami shrugged. "Have I? Brendan suggested that I should so… Do you want me to be more clingy?"

She shook her head. "No!"

Nami pulled a very unwilling Raven into a hug and rubbed her face against hers. "I love you soooo much!"

"I knew it! I knew I never should've brought it up!"

Yellow started laughing quietly while watching. She stopped, however, when a voice over a microphone began sounding.

"_We'll arrive at the base of Evergrande City in a moment! Please find a flight of stairs and proceed up to the island! For those of you competing in the Pokémon League, please don't forget to sign up!_"

In a few minutes, a large island came into view. The sides of the island were all steep cliffs, making it probably impossible to get to the top of the island without flying to the top. However, placed along the walls were flights of stairs leading from the sandy beach that surrounded the island to the top of it.

"Wow, look!" Yellow exclaimed and started hopping around like a little kid, pointing at the island. "It's so pretty!"

People on the boat began hurrying around to find their luggage, friends they might've wandered away from, and other things. Yellow, Nami, and Raven remained by the boat railing, watching as the island got closer and closer.

Soon enough, the boat came to a stop at the edge of the beach and began letting off all of its passengers. The three girls all hopped down the stairs excitedly, completely oblivious to the annoyed looks other people were giving them.

"Let's hurry up and get to the Pokémon League building and register!" Nami suggested and began running off towards somewhere.

Raven and Yellow hurried after her, hoping that she knew where she was going. Nami was much faster than them and, up ahead, stood next to one of the many randomly placed stairs on the island. Once they reached her, she grabbed both of their hands and began dragging them up the stairs.

"Will you wait a moment?!" Raven snapped, although she had no way of getting away from Nami's grip. "Come on, Yellow and I are gonna trip on the stairs if you keep doing this!"

Nami sighed in annoyance and let go of their hands. The two girls, who'd been struggling not to accidentally push the other off the stairs, both mumbled things to themselves as Nami stood there with a clueless expression.

Once they reached the top, they stopped to take a look around. At the opposite end of where the boat had dropped everyone off stood a large blue building. The stairs that Nami had brought them up was quite close to the building and Nami didn't hesitate to start dragging them towards the building.

Raven was somehow able to pull her hand away from Nami and turned around to look around some more. A stone path led from the entrance of the building all the way to the other end of the building. Stands and things like that were set up all along the path, and a crowd of people could be seen walking down the path towards the building.

"Come onnnnn," Nami whined, standing right behind Raven and whispering in her ear. "Let's be the first to sign up!"

With a sigh, Raven reluctantly allowed herself to be dragged inside the building. The doors opened up automatically and they stepped into the building. The floor was covered with blue, glass tile and several counters were up ahead, with televisions on the walls behind them. Papers were stacked up on the counters.

"Looks like no one's here…" Nami said, disappoint in her voice.

"Yay!" Raven shouted and raised her free hand in the air happily.

The sound of a door opening up brought their attention to the right side of the room, where a door had just opened up and a woman had begun walking out, papers in her arms. She looked surprised at seeing the three there and nearly dropped the papers she held.

The three hurried over to the woman and began helping her with the papers. Once they set them on the counter, the woman looked at them sheepishly.

"I wasn't expecting to see anyone here yet…"

"We took a shortcut!" Nami said proudly and started laughing loudly. "I'm so smart!"

The woman glanced at the papers quickly. "…Would you like a registration form?"

"Sure!" Nami answered and looked back at Raven and Yellow. "Let's see… One for me, one for Raven, and one for Yellow… So that makes… three?"

Yellow shook her head. "Oh, no, I'm not competing so I don't need one."

"Are you seriously having trouble counting how many of us there are?" Raven added.

As the woman handed Nami two papers, she started laughing. "I wasn't having trouble counting! I was playing around! Duh!"

"The prelims start tonight at 8:00 p.m. Don't forget!" the woman said happily. She then went to go stand behind the counter as people began coming into the building. "Also, we'll need to do a check when you've finished filling out the form so we know you have all the badges.~"

"All right!" Nami shouted and tossed the papers in the air. "Let's go!"

Raven was busy trying to catch one of the papers that was floating down, although it started floating away from where she stood. "Jeez, Nami!"

"…Sorry," Nami said and watched Raven run around like a chicken with its head cut off.

---

Later on, Raven stood outside of the Pokémon League building by herself. Other people were also outside, going to check out the stands around the place or to talk with each other. Raven reached into her pockets and took out her Poké Balls, letting out all her Pokémon.

"All right guys!" she said happily and looked at the group of six in front of her. "We are entering… The Pokémon League!"

"Are you serious?!" Piplup exclaimed and gawked as his trainer. "That's awesome!"

Raven watched as her Pokémon all became excited and looked at them each. Piplup, the tiny penguin… Cherrim, the equally tiny crazed Pokémon… Guru-n, the Gallade who's too nervous for his own good… Chao, the Chimecho that was just about as crazy as Cherrim… Magnemite, the one who'd let Raven through him into walls… And Pichu, the one who had lazy looking eyes like hers and rarely did anything.

"…We're so going to lose…" Raven mumbled and turned away from her team, mumbling to herself and smacking her head.

"Don't say that!" Piplup snapped and ran up behind her, biting the back of her shirt. "Even if it is true… Actually, now that I think about it, we can't do anything. We _are_ going to lose.

Piplup turned away from the other five and sat next to Raven, mumbling.

"C-come on!" Guru-n stammered and started getting tears in his eyes. "We aren't… I don't think we…"

Guru-n laid on the ground and started crying.

Cherrim and Chao looked at each other with their usual happy looks on their face. However, neither said anything and just looked around at them.

As for Pichu… He, however, decided not to be so negative. He balled his tiny hand into a fist and made the most determined face that he could make. "Never give up, never surrender!*" he shouted. "We shall not lose! For we… are… WARRIORS!"

All of them jumped up and began shouting loudly.

"…And what _are_ you doing?" Brendan asked.

Raven screamed and spun around to see Brendan standing behind her, Wally standing by his side. She jabbed her finger in his face and shouted, "YOU!"

"Get your finger away," he said and smacked her hand away. "What were you doing?"

"How long were you standing here?"

"Ever since you let your Pokémon out."

"Darn…" she muttered and sighed. "I was trying to tell these guys that we're entering the Pokémon League. But then, I realized that… well, I don't think we'll do very well."

Brendan had begun to shake his head. "You shouldn't be saying that kind of stuff! You're supposed to be cheering them on, telling them to do their best!"

"Oh, well aren't you just a smarty-pants," Raven said and stuck her tongue out at him.

"Whatever," Brendan sighed and shrugged. He then pointed over at Wally, who was looking at the ground and fidgetting around. "Anyways, Wally wanted to ask you something."

"Okay. Shoot!"

Wally looked up in surprise before looking away again. "Um… I was, uh… w-wondering if you would… Um, would you please have a battle with me?!"

* * *

* Fantina said that line. :D Haha...


	59. Chapter Fifty Eight

_Author's Notes:_ I really suck at writing Pokémon battles. ._.

* * *

Chapter Fifty-Eight

"Huh?! Battle?! Against me?! Like, right now?!"

Wally gulped and nodded quickly.

Raven looked back at her Pokémon, who all looked shocked. Except for Magnemite, who was incapable of showing facial expressions since it only had an eye, but even it seemed a bit shocked that someone asked to battle against them.

"…Sure!"

Wally looked up at her in surprise yet again. "What?! Seriously?!"

Raven nodded. "Guys, let's do our best against Wally, okay?"

"Yeah!"

Brendan reached out and patted Wally's back. "Come on, Wally! Kick her ass, show her what you're made of!"

Wally nodded and looked back at Raven, who had backed away from him. He reached towards his belt and took off a Poké Ball, throwing it.

"Go, Delcatty!"

Wally let out a tan and purple cat-like Pokémon, who sat down and tilted its head at Raven.

"Cherrim, want to battle?" Raven asked and Cherrim nodded excitedly, running to stand in front of Raven.

"Delcatty, use Fury Swipes!"

Delcatty stood up and quickly dashed towards Cherrim, who braced himself as Delcatty began striking him back and forth with its claws.

"Cherrim, let's use Magical Leaf!"

After getting hit once more by Delcatty, Cherrim backed away from it and the petals on his head began glowing. He spun around once and several rainbow colored leaves shot out from the petals, spinning towards Delcatty and covering its body in what looked like paper cuts.

"Attract!"

Delcatty quickly gave one of its cuts a quick lick before it looked up at Cherrim and blew a kiss at him. Cherrim blinked at it once and suddenly began blushing, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

"Cherrim, can you use Solarbeam?"

Cherrim looked back at Raven and waved his hand around. "What? And hurt her? No, I couldn't, eheh…"

"What have you done to my baby?!" Raven shouted and shook her head around as though seeing Cherrim act like that was the most horrifying thing she'd ever seen. It probably was, but that's not the point.

"…Oh, wait!" Raven said and took out a Poké Ball. "Cherrim, return!"

With a quick beam of light, Cherrim was sucked back into the Poké Ball. Raven put the ball into her pocket and looked back at her Pokémon. "Um… let's see… Chao, it's your turn!"

"Right on it!" Chao answered happily and floated forwards. Delcatty seemed to sneer at Chao as she floated around, although Chao probably wasn't aware of it.

"Fury Swipes!"

"Uproar!"

Chao began shrieking loudly, making Delcatty cringe and try to cover its ears. It recovered from the loud sound surprisingly quickly, dashing forward and jumped in the air and began swiping at Chao quickly.

"Chao, use Psychic!"

Chao moved her arms downwards and Delcatty was pulled down from the air, crashing into the ground. Chao tilted her head curiously as Delcatty tried to stand up. "That's weird… I thought cats always landed on all fours?"

"Why you little-!" Delcatty snarled. "Wally, give me a command!"

"Uh…" Wally started and scratched the side of his head. "Use Assist!"

Delcatty grinned as sparks started to fly from its body. A bolt of electricity shot from its body, electrocuting an unsuspecting Chao.

"…Electricity?! How can it do that?!" Raven exclaimed, although it was mostly something just thought to herself.

Chao floated to the ground slowly, squinting as she tried to look at her opponent. "Chao! Don't worry!" Raven shouted and took out another Poké Ball, returning Chao. "Good job… Let's see, I'm not sending Cherrim out again, that's for sure… So…"

"Ah, sensei?" Guru-n asked and stepped over to her. "May I battle?"

"Um, sure…" she said and nodded. "All right! Guru-n, let's go!"

He nodded happily and jumped to take his place across from where his opponent stood with an angry expression across its face.

"Okay, Delcatty, it's a male! Use Attract!"

Delcatty nodded and blew a kiss at Guru-n, much like it had done to Cherrim. Guru-n didn't seem to be affected by its kiss, however, and looked back at Raven.

"Sensei! What should I do?"

Raven tapped her head. "You weren't affected by Attract?… Do you not like women?"

"Sensei, please! That's not it!" Guru-n said, seemingly horrified by what his trainer was saying. "Now what should I do?"

Raven held up her hand and reached into her pocket, taking out a PokéDex. "Let's see… Use Close Combat!"

"Right!" he said. In a quick moment, he was standing in front of Delcatty. He quickly began throwing punches and kicks at it, not bothering to try and guard himself from any attacks Delcatty might've tried to hit him with. Guru-n abruptly stopped the attacks and Delcatty fell to the ground, hissing as it tried to pick itself up.

"Aw, no…" Wally muttered and returned Delcatty to its Poké Ball. "Good job, though… Okay, Kecleon, I choose you!"

A lizard-like green Pokémon with a red zigzag pattern across its stomach came out. It quickly shot its tongue out and struck Guru-n on the head, watching with a blank look as Guru-n stumbled back and looked around in confusion.

"W-what the heck was that?!"

"…It hit you with its tongue," Raven answered and shook her head. "Um, okay… Close Combat again!"

Guru-n ran up to Kecleon again and threw a flurry of punches and kicks at it. Kecleon stumbled backwards and struck Guru-n on the head with its tongue yet again. "Eh, will you stop that please?"

Kecleon slapped the back of Guru-n's legs with its tongue. Guru-n screamed like a girl and reached back to try and stop the stinging feeling on his legs.

"Oh, wait… Kecleon has the Color Change ability, doesn't it?" Raven asked.

Piplup shrugged. "How would any of us know that?"

"Beats me. Anyways… Guru-n, use Psycho Cut!… Haha, psycho…"

Guru-n nodded quickly as the blades on his arms began glowing a dark purple color. He quickly spun around and struck Kecleon with it, causing the Pokémon to tumble over and lay on the ground, unmoving.

"…That's it?" Piplup muttered.

"Kecleon, are you okay?" Wally asked and took out another Poké Ball. "Good job though, thank you!"

Wally gulped and looked up at Raven. "Looks like I'm losing, huh?"

Raven shook her head. "Nope. I can tell, though, that your Pokémon are really strong. So, uh… don't give up, just yet?"

Brendan coughed slightly and began narrating the battle. "As Raven ends her attempt of encouragement to Wally, with a question sound in her voice, what Pokémon will Wally choose next?"

Brendan's narration of the battle ended exactly 3 seconds later.

"All right, my next Pokémon is…" Wally started and took out another Poké Ball. He tossed it high into the air, shouting his Pokémon's name as the ball let it out.

"…Roselia!"

The small green Pokémon bowed slightly before looking back at Wally, its hands, which were roses, in front of itself. "Wally, are you okay…?"

"Oh, I'm fine!" he answered sheepishly and laughed. "We're having a battle against Raven! So… let's do our best!"

With a slight bow, Roselia turned forward to look at Guru-n. "Please, don't hold back. Despite the fact that our sizes are drastically different, please fight with everything you have."

Guru-n mumbled something and nodded. "I won't…"

"Okay! Roselia, use Stun Spore!" Wally said.

Roselia held its roses in front of itself and a golden yellow powder began spraying from the petals. Guru-n quickly drew in his breathe and tried to hold it, so as not to breath in the powder.

"Psycho Cut, again!" Raven shouted.

Guru-n nodded and, surprisingly quickly, reached where Roselia stood and slashed at it with its arms.

Brendan watched the battle with a somewhat amused expression on his face. Since he was banned from narrating, he couldn't do his commentary. But, alas, he did it anyways.

"How'd Guru-n get so fast…?"

"That would be Gallade's Steadfast ability. It gets faster after being attacked with a move that caused it to flinch."

Brendan let out a shriek as he spun around and saw a purple haired girl standing a tad too closely behind him. He narrowed his eyes at the girl, stepping away so she wasn't standing so close to him. "Oh, really?"

"Yes," the girl said. She held a laptop in her arms, staring at it intently and making no attempt to look at Brendan. The girl muttered something as she reached up to fix her glasses, which had been falling down her nose.

Brendan sighed and shook his head, deciding to ignore the girl and continue watching the battle.

"Shadow Ball, Guru-n!"

Guru-n had now back rather far away from Roselia, who had surrounded itself with yet another oddly colored powder. He held his hands in front of himself, a black ball beginning to form in the middle of the space between them. He quickly tossed the ball at Roselia, which exploded mere inches from it.

"Hm… Far-range moves aren't a Gallade's specialty… Of course, I guess it's a good thing to have when getting in close is bad," the girl said.

"Hey…" Brendan said and held up his hand. "We aren't supposed to do commentary on the battle, queen's orders!"

She shook her head. "No. _You_ aren't allowed to do commentary. I'm free to do whatever I want."

Wally had returned Roselia to its Poké Ball and had taken out another one. "Okay! Here's the first Pokémon I ever caught, and with Raven's help too… Gardevoir!"

A Pokémon that looked extremely similar to Guru-n came out of the Poké Ball. The green color on it was a lighter color than Guru-n was and appeared to be wearing a white dress, as well as its legs being light green.

"Gardevoir! Use Psychic!"

"Guru-n! Use Shadow Ball!"

Gardevoir's eyes began to glow a blue color as it raised its arms up, pulling Guru-n up in the air. It quickly lowered its arms back down, tossing Guru-n onto the ground.

Guru-n jumped up and tossed another black ball at Gardevoir. Before it reached Gardevoir, however, Gardevoir raised its arms once again and several more Gardevoir suddenly appeared. The ball passed through one of the Gardevoir and it disappeared.

All of the Gardevoir raised their arms again and sent Guru-n flying backwards. Raven quickly took out another Poké Ball and returned Guru-n back into it. She turned back to look at her Pokémon and pointed at Piplup.

"Piplup, come on!"

"Right!" Piplup said and ran forwards to face the several Gardevoir.

"Whirlpool!"

Piplup began to spin around quickly, creating a large whirlpool and sending it in the direction of the Gardevoir. The water covered over all of them, making all of them except for one disappear.

"Drill Peck!"

Piplup turned back to salute at her before charging at Gardevoir, spinning around yet again. This time, however, he didn't make a whirlpool and rather struck Gardevoir with his beak. Gardevoir moved its arms forwards and sent Piplup tumbling backwards.

"Future Sight!" Wally shouted.

Gardevoir's eyes and the pink horn on its chest glowed blue but, for some reason, seemed to do nothing.

"Piplup, go underground!" Raven ordered and Piplup nodded, quickly digging underground.

Wally frowned for a moment but then smiled happily. "Okay! Gardevoir, let's wait until Piplup attacks!"

After a moment, Piplup came up underneath Gardevoir and jumped out, trying to strike Gardevoir. However, out of nowhere, a blast came and struck Piplup, sending him flying in the air and stopping his attack on Gardevoir.

Piplup trying to look where Gardevoir was as he was still in the air; once he spotted it directly underneath him, he opened his mouth and sent a stream of bubbles at it.

Gardevoir raised its arms again and created a green bubble around itself. The bubbles Piplup let out simply struck the bubble and popped.

All of a sudden, Raven returned Piplup to its Poké Ball. She took another one of her Poké Balls and tossed it. "Shadow Ball!"

Not even a second after the ball opened did a black shadow ball come shooting out at Gardevoir. It struck the rather surprised white Pokémon before it exploded.

"Okay…!" Raven muttered and returned the Pokémon she had sent out, which had been Guru-n. "Drill Peck!"

Piplup had already started spinning towards Gardevoir as soon as he left the Poké Ball and struck the white Pokémon on the red horn on its chest. Gardevoir tumbled backwards, laying on the ground and not getting back up.

Wally smiled and returned Gardevoir to its Poké Ball. "Good job, Gardevoir…" That said, he looked back up at where Raven and her Pokémon were. "I guess we've lost… You win, Raven!"

"…I do?" Raven asked and looked down at Piplup, who looked back up at her. In mere seconds, the two began jumping around happily. Magnemite and Pichu, the only two who hadn't battled, joined them in their cheering.

"Aw, darn, I was betting on Wally…" Brendan muttered and sighed. "I thought Wally had a Flygon… I was looking forward to seeing it battle too…"

"If you wanted to see it so badly, then why don't you go catch one yourself?" the girl next to him asked and he shook his head.

"…Because I can't."

The girl said nothing and looked back down at her laptop again. Meanwhile, Wally had walked over to Raven and held his hand out to her.

"That was really fun, Raven!" he said happily.

Raven nodded and grabbed his hand, shaking it. "Yeah, it was!"

Piplup jumped up onto Raven's shoulder, joined by Pichu and Magnemite. "I agree! Too bad you didn't let these two battle, though," he said and pointed at the other two.

Raven shrugged. "I guess so. Sorry about that, you guys."

All of a sudden, the purple haired girl that'd been standing next to Brendan was standing next to them, still looking at her laptop. "Are you both entering the Pokémon League?"

"Er… Yeah…"

"Hm…" she muttered and typed something in on the computer before shutting it and putting it under her arm. She then held her hand out to them. "My name's Rebecca. I'm also entering the Pokémon League."

Both Raven and Wally shook her hand and said their own names. Rebecca nodded and pushed her glasses up her nose. "…I'll be going then."

Just as Rebecca started walking away, however, someone ran into her. She looked down at the blonde haired kid who had run into her and frowned as she overheard him muttering things about "stupid people". He looked up at her in annoyance and stepped around her, raising his arm and pointing at Raven.

"You there! The stupid one!"

Raven gasped. "Wally is not stupid!"

Brendan started laughing loudly and Wally smiled unsurely. "Um… Raven, I think he's pointing at you…"

"…Oh," she said and shook her head. "Okay, so maybe I'm a little stupid, so what?"

"I just saw your battle!" the kid shouted.

"Oh? Did you think it was awesome?"

The kid shook his head. "It sucked!"

Piplup shook his head as well. "I had a feeling he was going to say something like that…"

Raven was glaring at the boy. "Why did it suck?"

"Because!" he shouted and crossed his arms across his chest. "Everyone knows that women can't battle!"

In a quick moment, the boy was lifted up off the ground by the back of his shirt. He looked back over his shoulder to see that Rebecca had grabbed the back of his shirt and looked back forward to see Raven standing in front of him angrily.

"What the heck's wrong with you two?!"

"Apologies if I misheard this," Rebecca began and tightened her grip on his shirt. "But did you just say that women can't battle?"

"That's what I said!" he snapped. "Women can't be Pokémon trainers! It's something specifically made for men!"

Raven looked up at Rebecca. "…Can I kill him?"

"Sure, go ahead. Don't hold back either."

"No, wait, wait, wait!" the boy screamed and began waving his arms around. "What I meant was… er… Women can be Pokémon trainers, it's just that men are better than they are at it."

The boy's stomach got to meet Raven's fist. Their conversation was short, yet painful.

* * *

Anyone who's seen the movie Destiny Deoxys would know who Rebecca is... I dunno why she's in this story though. XD I really like making crossover things...


	60. Chapter Fifty Nine

_Author's Notes:_ You know what? Someone stole a story I wrote and put it on this site! Even when my story's on here too! _ I already reported the guy but I haven't seen anything done about it...

Anyways. Next chapter is the start of the prelims of the Pokémon League Tournament!... I'm gonna have a hard time writing it since my battle description skills really suck...

* * *

Chapter Fifty-Nine

"That little brat! I can't believe him!" Raven shouted, sitting on a couch next to Yellow. They sat in a large room in the building, with several other couches, a table, and a t.v. in it. However, it would seem as though they were the only two in the room at the moment. "Saying women can't be Pokémon trainers… I should've kicked him to the Johto region!"

Yellow smiled unsurely. "Well, maybe that was the way he was raised? Being told that, maybe?"

Raven didn't seem to hear anything Yellow said. "And after I kick him there, I'll bury him underneath the ocean! Have fun swimming with the fish, you jerk!"

"I wonder… What kind of people would tell their children to believe such a thing?" Yellow muttered.

"All of the Magikarp can have fun eating him! But they won't, 'cause he'll be so disgusting that even they won't touch him!"

"I wonder… How many licks does it take to get to the center of a… what was it called?"

"…What are you two talking about?"

The two looked behind themselves to see Winona standing behind them with a blank look on her face. They both shrugged, causing Winona to sigh.

"Hey, wait a second…" Raven started and stood up on the couch. "Winny! You're here!"

Winona put a hand on her head and pushed her back so she was sitting on the seat. "Don't stand on the furniture…" she muttered and slightly smiled. "And yes, I'm here for the Pokémon League. To watch it, that is…"

While Raven continued looking at Winona in awe for no reason, Yellow started talking. "Actually, we were talking about some boy who told Raven that girls shouldn't be trainers…"

"Oh… _him_, huh?" Winona said and her grin grew wider, although now it seemed slightly scary looking. "Yeah, I saw him… And he told me the same thing. I was actually looking for him so I could yell at him but he ran away…"

Meanwhile, Raven had thrown her arms around Winona and was now hugging her tightly. But that was besides the point.

Almost as if on command, the boy they were talking about ran into the room, shouting something at someone behind him. "I know, I'll fill that stupid thing out when I'm good and ready to!"

He looked over to the couch where the three of them were and shouted something profane. "Er, I mean… hi?"

"You little brat!" Raven shouted and jumped up from the couch.

"I was looking for you, you know…" Winona added, the grin on her face getting even creepier and she jumped over the couch and stood next to Raven.

Yellow remained seated with an unsure smile on her face.

"Oh, come on!" he shouted and held his hands up in front of him. "I'm sorry for saying that! You don't have to get so angry about it!"

"We don't have to get so angry about it?" Winona asked and grabbed the front of his shirt. "You saying that is like women saying that men shouldn't run around in maid dresses!"

"…They shouldn't. That'd be kinda creepy."

Winona lost the creepy look on her face and frowned. "…Wait a second, what did I just say? Uh, well, never mind… What I mean is, keep your opinions to yourself and don't say a thing!"

The boy snorted and looked away from Winona. "Whatever. I'll show you exactly what I mean when the final four trainers are all male. And, of course, I'll be one of them!"

Raven gasped loudly and tried to make a dramatic face. She failed. "You're entering the Pokémon League too?!"

"Too?!" he shouted. "You mean you're entering it?! Battling like you did earlier?!"

Winona looked back at Raven. "Battling like you did earlier…?"

"Ah, yeah, Wally and I had a battle just a bit ago!" Raven said. "I won!"

"Good job!" Winona said happily and patted her head.

The boy coughed to get their attention. "Um, you battled like a loser!"

"Shut up!" Raven snapped. "I bet you can't battle worth crap!"

"My battling can be worth crap and your's can be worth nothing!"

Winona sighed and started shaking her head. "Will you two stop it? You're giving me a headache…"

The boy snorted loudly and pointed at Raven. "Remember my name! It's Emerald!"

"I'll remember it!" Raven hissed and pointed back at him. "When I start hanging wanted posters for your head around world!"

"Enough, violent child," Winona muttered and put a hand on Raven's head, as if Raven might start trying to act Emerald at any moment. She probably would. "…Hey, wait, where'd he go?"

Raven shrugged. "I don't know. He ran off shouting something about a form…"

"Speaking of…" Winona began and started walking back to the couch Yellow was at, Raven following her. "You filled out an application form and turned it in, right?"

Raven nodded excitedly. "Yes commander! The form has been turned in!"

"Good…" Winona sighed and sat down. "Have you guys gotten a room to stay in yet? A lot of the rooms in this building are meant for the challengers and spectators to stay in… And there are a bunch of big rooms like this that have televisions so people can watch the battles going on if they can't make it to the battle arena to watch it…"

"We haven't," Yellow answered and stood up happily. "Hey, Raven, let's go get one, okay?"

"Shall do!" Raven saluted and the two started hurrying off. "See you, commander!"

Winona nodded and waved. "…Why does she keep calling me commander?"

---

"What we need to do is put a tracking device on you or something…" Brendan muttered, looking at Raven and Yellow, the two both standing in front of him happily. "We'll only put one on Raven, because Yellow's guaranteed to be wherever Raven is."

Pearl laughed and pulled her brother into a tight hug. "Oh, Brendan, you joker, you."

"…Is there something wrong with your head right now?" he asked.

Pearl shook her head and looked back at Yellow and Raven, smiling. "So, what was it that you were asking?"

"A room!" Raven said and nodded. "Have we gotten a room to stay in yet?"

"Actually, yeah! I already got the key but I haven't gone to the room yet…" Pearl muttered and reached into her pocket. "Here you go! The room's number is on the back of the key. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to spend some quality time with my brother!"

"Oh Arceus, no! Please, don't leave me with her! Don't leave me!"

"Let's go!" Raven said happily to Yellow and the two began hurrying off, leaving behind the head-locked Brendan and his sister.

---

After struggling with the door lock for a considerable amount of time, as well as refusing to allow Yellow the unlock it, Raven finally opened the door to the room they'd be staying in.

The room's carpet was blue and there were six beds in it, three against one wall and three against the wall opposite of it. A large window with blue curtains was also there, finishing up the rather bare room.

"Hm… six beds…" Raven muttered as she and Yellow walked into the room. "Quick! Yellow, we have to burn two of these beds!"

"What?! Why?"

"Because that means Nami and Harley will be able to sleep in here!"

Yellow laughed as she walked over to the window and pulled open the curtains, revealing the front area of the Pokémon League building. People were still scattered everywhere, some of them battling against one another. The ocean surrounding the right side of the island was visible as well.

"…I wasn't joking!" Raven whined and began pulling on Yellow's arm. "Quick! We have to hurry! I think Harley was following me!"

With a sigh, Yellow fell back on one of the beds closest to the window. Raven began pouting but nevertheless sat next to Yellow.

"Hey…" Yellow started. "Do you remember when we all went to Mossdeep City? And when we played in the ocean?"

Raven nodded. "And I was almost killed by murderous Luvdisc? I remember."

Yellow started laughing yet again. "Well, anyways. This kind of reminds me of that time… kind of like I'm dreaming it all, but I know I'm not."

"Hm… you're right," Raven mumbled. "Maybe it's because there's not really any snow…? Did it snow where you lived in Kanto?"

Raven glanced over at Yellow to see that, somehow, she'd fallen fast asleep. "What the-?! Yellow! Don't fall asleep in the middle of a conversation!"

Yet, despite all of her evil attempts to wake her, well, Yellow did not wake. Raven sat there for a bit, staring at her, before she simply decided that she'd sleep as well. Laying down next to Yellow, Raven fell asleep almost as fast as she did…

---

The noise of people talking was what woke the two of them up. Raven was the first to awake, bolting upright, thinking that someone was watching them and talking. She calmed down after realizing that no one was there.

She heard people's voices from outside the room and jumped off the bed, hurrying to peek out into the hallway. Some kids hurried down the hall, chattering loudly, as well as other people hurrying around as well.

"What's wrong?" Yellow asked with a yawn, waking and walking over to Raven.

Raven shrugged and reached out to tap the shoulder of someone passing them. The girl stopped and looked back at her with a curious face.

"Ah, what's everyone hurrying around for?" Raven asked.

"Oh, they're setting up the battlefield in the back area of building! I haven't seen it yet, but everyone says that it's really cool how they do it!"

Raven glanced back at Yellow, who nodded excitedly, and the two quickly left the room, following after the girl to see what everyone was talking about.

After hurrying through a maze of intersecting halls and waiting rooms, they finally reached one waiting room that had a window with people gathered in front of it. The girl broke away from them, hurrying over to her own friends, while Raven and Yellow began struggling to try and find a way to see out the window.

Standing up on tables didn't work. Trying to jump around didn't work. Asking people to make room didn't work.

"Waah, I want to see it!" Raven whined and began waving her arms around, acting reminiscent of a young child. "I want to see it!"

"Oh, hey! Yellow, Raven!" someone shouted and Raven paused her whining to look in the direction of the voice. Brawly stood nearby, apparently having been looking out the window as well. The two hurried over to him and Brawly suddenly picked them both up, holding one under each arm, and moved towards the window.

The two both pressed their faces on the glass as they watched the scene outside. Sure enough, the battlefield was being set up; in a rather showy manner. Already, most of the field itself had already been set up; grass that was there being suddenly chopped away by something invisible, being replaced by bare ground.

Fireworks suddenly shot off at four different places, rising high into the sky before they exploded, leaving a tall metal post behind. Someone down there had released a large flock of varying bird Pokémon, all of which flew straight up in the air before branching off to the left and right. They swooped down to the ground and, suddenly, flew back up. A large set of tiers suddenly appeared underneath them, more appearing as the Pokémon flew back up.

And then, everything seemed to stop for a moment as a man dressed in white stood in the center of the battlefield. The bird Pokémon, as well as others, had all lined up behind him. He held out his arms, facing the building's direction.

"Everyone! Thank you for watching this year's performance!" he shouted loudly. "Just to inform you all, I, too, will be participating in this year's Pokémon League! And so-" He paused for a moment and pointed at them with a wand. "Everyone, let's do our best!"

A large explosion occurred, smoke covering over the entire thing just built. It swept up against the windows, blocking the view of the area. When the smoke finally disappeared, cement walls surrounded what they just made, the walls connecting to the building.

Everyone began clapping and talking excitedly to one another. Brawly placed Yellow and Raven back on the ground, Yellow looking rather happy at what she'd just seen.

"That was so cool, wasn't it?" she asked Raven.

Raven shrugged. "I didn't really think so. Lots of explosions and stuff. It's obvious that they didn't really put it all together with 'magic'. Too showy."

Brawly nodded. "Last year's was much better!"

"What'd they do last year?"

Brawly paused for a moment before answering. "Uh, you know… They cut open a Wailord and there was an arena inside.

The two both shrieked. "What?! Seriously?!"

"Er… yeah, totally."

"Waah! Poor Wailord!"

That was Yellow.

"That's unsanitary! Weren't its insides all over the seats and stuff?"

That was Raven.

Brawly nodded. "Totally! And I was on clean up duty…"

He trailed off and stared behind Yellow and Raven. The two turned around to see Winona standing there with a blank look on her face and the two screamed.

Brawly waved slightly. "Hey!… Um, Nagi!"

Winona narrowed her eyes at him but otherwise ignored the nickname. She looked back at Raven and put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, Raven, you should get downstairs soon. The prelims are going to start in a bit. Let's all go, okay?"

They all nodded and began walking off. As they were heading downstairs, Winona added, in a way similar to a grocer asking a shopper if they wanted a paper or plastic bag…

"By the way, there was no arena inside a Wailord. And if Brawly were ever on cleanup duty, he wouldn't get a single thing done."


	61. Chapter Sixty

Chapter Sixty

Raven was surprised at the amount of people gathering on the first floor of the Pokémon League building. She tried to tell herself that most of them were probably spectators, but a feeling told her that they were all competitors.

She quickly glanced over at Winona and Brawly, the latter calling Winona by an army of nicknames.

"Windy? Nagi? The Winoninator?"

With each nickname, Winona shook her head, her eyebrows furrowed as she did her best to ignore him.

Winona felt something tug on her arm sleeve and she looked down to see Raven looking at all the people there with a somewhat nervous expression on her face.

"All these people… They're here to watch everyone competing, right?"

Winona smiled, catching onto the girl's nervousness. "Yep!"

"Are you kidding?!" Brawly interrupted. "These are all the competitors! All the people you'll be facing! It's all your compe-"

Brawly was abruptly cut off as Winona elbowed his stomach.

"Don't feel nervous!" Yellow said happily and pat Raven on her back. "You and your Pokémon can easily beat everyone here!"

Raven grinned a little. "Yeah… Maybe…"

"It's nothing to worry about," Winona said and bent down to be at eye level with her. "Want me to tell you how the prelims are going to work tonight?"

Raven nodded excitedly and Winona smiled. "First, you'll need to go to one of those counters and get a ticket. It'll have a letter on it, which'll be the group you'll be in. When that letter group is called up, everyone with that letter ticket goes to the arena. There'll be a bunch of you, and everyone sends out one Pokémon to participate in a battle royal. The last two Pokémon standing are the winners of that prelim group!"

"You know, I heard that they changed the rules a bit from last year," Brawly added. "I think that the new rule was something like the trainers can't be in the arena while the Pokémon are battling and that they have to go up on the spectator level to watch."

Brawly then noticed the looks he was getting from the three girls: a scared look from Raven, an angry look from Winona, and a rather unsure look from Yellow.

Winona quickly grabbed a hold of him and started shaking him. "Will you stop scaring her?!"

Raven shook her head. "No, no, I'm fine, really. Besides, I usually let my Pokémon battle on their own anyways."

Winona quickly let of Brawly, watching him stumble backwards and fall. "Is that so? Well… How about you go get a ticket then?"

Raven nodded happily and began making her way through the crowd. Meanwhile, Winona began strangling Brawly again and Yellow just let out a sigh.

---

"I'm in… the A group…" Raven muttered, staring down at her ticket.

The woman behind the counter was smiling at her and Raven bet that her face was stuck in a permanent, fake smile. "The announcer will tell everyone the rules for the prelims in a few minutes! Good luck!"

Raven nodded and quickly walked off, still staring at the ticket in her hand. She came to abrupt stop as someone stood in front of her and looked up from her ticket.

"Well, if it isn't Raven!"

Raven stared at the man in front of her, clad in a dark green outfit. "Ah, you're…" she began and looked at the group standing behind him: a young, light-purple haired girl, another young girl with blonde hair, an old man holding a staff, a man with a white coat and a red hat on, a woman with long black hair and a short purple top, and something that horrified Raven even more than Harley.

A man with purple hair wearing some kind of fairy costume. Well, he easily made Harley look like a normal person.

"I'm…?" the man in green said, snapping Raven out of her horror. He was pointing at himself, a grin across his face. Raven assumed that this man must know her, because he was acting like he did, but…

She hadn't a single clue who he was.

"Who are you again?"

The man slapped his forehead, shaking his head in defeat. "You honestly don't remember me?"

"Er…" Raven began and scratched her head. "I… don't know you…"

"I'm Brandon," he said. "Ring a bell yet?"

"Uh… I only know a Brendan, not a Brandon."

Brandon sighed. "I helped you and your friends get your way through Sky Pillar! To find Rayquaza!"

"Ohhhhh," Raven said and nodded. "Now I remember!"

"Great!" Brandon exclaimed and turned to face the group behind him. "These are the rest of Hoenn's Frontier Brains! The blonde is Greta, the kid in purple is Anabel, the guy who needs to shave is Noland, the old man is Spenser, the tall woman is Lucy, and…" Brandon stopped to take a breath. "The man in the fairy outfit is Tucker."

Greta and Anabel quickly hurried over to Raven. Greta reached out to touch Raven's head. "Hey, you're kind of short! How old are you? Like ten?"

"I'm twel- Thirteen."

"What? No way, you're way too short! Is it a birth defect? Are you a midget? Maybe you should-"

Anabel held up her hand in front of Greta. "Enough, stop bothering her about her height. Anyways, what group are you in?"

It took a moment for Raven to realize that she was asking her that question. "Um, group A!"

"A, huh?" Anabel asked. "So you'll be the first group to go up!"

"Please don't remind me."

"Sorry."

Just then, a voice came out of one of the many speakers along the walls and everyone stopped talking. "Everyone, the Pokémon League prelims are about to begin! Everyone in the A group, please come to the arena immediately!"

"Well, you're up then!" Brandon said and pat Raven's head. "Good luck!"

With that, he turned around and began hurrying off, the rest of his group in tow. Anabel stopped for a moment and hurried back to her.

"Hey," she whispered. "…You still don't have a clue who Brandon is, do you?"

"Still don't."

---

Within a few minutes, Raven was among a crowd of others, who were also in the A group. She didn't see anyone she knew, although she knew that that was expected.

Finally, she spotted Steven walking over to the group, a small group of people following. By instinct, she raised her hand and shouted, "Hi Steven!"

Steven looked around in confusion before his eyes landed on the small child jumping around. He gave her a slight wave before stopping to stand in front of the group A contestants.

After being elbowed in the back by Wallace, who was among the group following him, Steven began talking. "Well, everyone, this is how the prelim round will work. You'll all choose one Pokémon to send out for battle, and that Pokémon will participate in a battle royal. The last two Pokémon standing are the ones who win.

"Also, trainers aren't allowed to give their Pokémon commands. Your Pokémon have to fight for themselves, using what they've been taught by you. So… while you get your Pokémon out, I'll be out there… Giving a speech… If anyone is willing to do it for me, I'll gladly let you."

Wallace was shaking his head. "No, Steven. You're the one who's going to do it. Come on now…"

As Steven was forcefully being dragged into the arena, everyone began choosing their Pokémon and letting them out. Raven barely took a moment to decide and let Guru-n out of his Poké Ball.

"All right, Guru-n!" she said happily and clenched her fists. "It's the start of the Pokémon League!"

"Whaaaat?" Guru-n whined and began shaking his head. "No, not already! It's too soon!"

"Wrong! It's now!" Raven shouted and some other trainers began looking at her in annoyance. "You've been chosen to compete in the prelims! It's battle royal, so feel free to go all out…"

"I can't! S-sensei, choose someone else!"

"Unfortunately, I can't! You've been chosen by… me! There's no going back from a decision by me!"

Guru-n gulped and took a look at the other Pokémon people had sent out: a Scyther, a Golbat, and a Mightyena were among some the Pokémon. As well as a… oh my Arceus… a Taillow.

"But… I'm not good enough to beat them…" Guru-n mumbled.

Raven reached up and pat his shoulder. "It's fine, Guru-n! If we can't do it this year, we can always try the next! And besides, I don't think anyone can beat you!"

Raven felt someone tap on her shoulder and looked behind herself to see Rebecca, the girl with the laptop from earlier that day. She still had her laptop under her arm. However, Raven didn't seem to notice that and was rather looking at the Pokémon following her.

A large, metal-like, blue Pokémon on four legs was behind Rebecca. A silver X was on its face and its red eyes seemed to have an angry look to them.

Guru-n leaned down to whisper in Raven's ear. "Do you think I can beat that?!"

Raven didn't answer, still in awe of the giant Pokémon.

"Looks like we're in the same group," Rebecca said. When Raven never answered, she simply continued. "…I guess I should say 'let's do our best'?"

Yet again, Raven didn't answer. So Rebecca simply stared at Guru-n and held her laptop at him. "This Pokémon is a Gallade, right? Never seen one before… Heh."

"Please don't 'heh' while you're holding that thing at me," Guru-n whimpered.

Just then, the door to the arena opened up. "Everyone, come on out here!"

"All right! Let's go, Guru-n!" Raven shouted and smacked his back. "Get out there! Go!"

"But…" Guru-n muttered and screamed as Rebecca's Pokémon began pushing him forward. "No, stop!"

But alas, there was no getting away from the monstrous creature that Rebecca's Pokémon was. All of the Pokémon and their trainers rushed out onto the large battlefield and looked up at the crowds of people that had gathered into the seats. Walls surrounded the field and rose up to stop at where the seats were, high above them.

"These are our group A trainers and their Pokémon! All right, so when I say 'start', everyone may begin!" the announcer shouted. "Ready… And start!"

---

Brendan let out a sigh as he took a seat next to Yellow. They were in the room that the prelims were taking place in, sitting in one of the first rows to watch the battle below. He spotted Raven and her Pokémon easily; after her, her Pokémon was the only one clinging to her and screaming.

"Hey Brendan, what group are you in?"

Brendan snapped out of his small trance and glanced at Yellow. "Um, I'm in group H. So it'll be a while until it's my turn…"

"I see!" Yellow said happily and looked back at the field. "You know, personally, I don't really like Pokémon battling. I don't like seeing anyone, Pokémon or people, getting hurt… So that's kind of why I'm not much of a trainer…"

Brendan nodded, wondering why in the world she was telling him this out of the blue. "Er… well, personally, I can't bring myself to change my Pokémon team, so I've only had Swampert and Grovyle the entire time. The only other Pokémon I use are the ones that my dad and sister have, since I know them."

A quick glance at Yellow showed that she had fallen asleep sitting up. Brendan grimaced and pushed the tip of her hat down to cover her eyes before looking back at the field.

So far, only one Pokémon had been knocked out. Guru-n was still there, apparently having stopped his crying and deciding to fight. After a quick duck from a Scyther's attack, he made a Shadow Ball and tossed it at the Scyther.

"Ohh, and it looks like Scyther is unable to battle! Remember folks, that Gallade you see is the very same one that was just having a crying fit mere minutes ago!"

Brendan suddenly noticed that at some point, the announcer had come up to the seating area and was standing down by the first row of seats. A cameraman was right behind the announcer and… from what Brendan could see, a white haired girl was struggling to hold up the large camera. The announcer, however, was oblivious of the camerawoman's struggle.

"Look at that! Metagross has been attacked by Camerupt's Flamethrower technique! Is it down…? Oh, nope! Metagross still has the strength to go! Doesn't even look like it got hurt…"

Brendan tried to ignore the annoying announcer. The Metagross she mentioned had lifted one of its four arms and punched Camerupt, sending it flying backwards into the wall, nearly hitting one of the trainers on the field.

"Camerupt has fainted from the brute force of Metagross' counterattack!"

Brendan sensed someone standing next to him and looked to see that Pearl had finally arrived at the seating area. She was looking out at field and took a seat next to him, nearly sitting on his hand but not seeming to notice.

Nami, Harley, and Wally had been with Pearl and the three all went into the row behind them. Nami grabbed Brendan's shoulders and began shaking him. "Hey, Raven's battling now, right? Is she doing good?"

"Well, Guru-n isn't out yet so I assume they're doing fine."

Harley clasped his hands together and squealed like a little girl. "Raven-chan is just the best isn't she?…" Harley looked at where Yellow slept, an annoyed look on his face. "What's it with _her_?"

Brendan shrugged. "She fell asleep."

Harley frowned but said nothing else as the announcer's voice blared.

"What's this? Looks like the Gallade and Metagross are working together! Could this be an unstoppable duo…?"

"That announcer is really annoying," Brendan said and glared at the woman. "Can someone shut her up?"

Pearl finally snapped out of her trance and held a finger over her mouth. "Shh. Be quiet."

Brendan rolled his eyes.

Guru-n now stood on top of Metagross' back, tossing Shadow Balls left and right. Metagross had somehow managed to float above the ground and moved out of the way of Pokémon that got too close to it.

All of a sudden, Metagross stopped floating and dropped to the ground, causing it to begin shaking violently. Several of the remaining Pokémon lost their balance and Guru-n used the opportunity to attack them all with Shadow Ball.

After a moment of the announcer momentarily losing her microphone, she shouted, "And it would appear as though Gallade and Metagross are the final two Pokémon standing. The two trainers in charge of these Pokémon pass the preliminary round! Congrats!"

Raven began jumping around happily, although she and the other trainers had all been knocked down from the earthquake. Rebecca merely pushed her glasses up her nose and watched Raven jump around.


	62. Chapter Sixty One

Minor crossover in this chapter... Kinda. The people apart of the band "Ho-kago Tea Time" are characters from the series K-ON. Yeahhhhhh....

* * *

Chapter Sixty-One

The crowd continued cheering as the group A contestants all began leaving the arena. Raven was especially happy, humming loudly as she and Rebecca headed upstairs to the spectator area.

"We make a good team, don't you think so?" Rebecca asked.

"Yep, we do!" Raven answered. "And our Pokémon are totally unstoppable!"

Rebecca laughed. "That's what everyone thinks. And then they lose." She then noticed that Raven was looking at her with a horrified face. "Eh… What I mean is, I'm feeling pretty confident this year! And, uh, I get a good feeling from you! You'll get pretty far with your Pokémon!"

"Yeah, I know!" Raven said and started laughing. "Say, you seem a lot more talkative now that you were earlier…"

"…I do?" Rebecca asked. She scratched the side of her head and said nothing else.

Raven continued her loud humming until she abruptly tripped up the stairs. Yes. She tripped _up_ the stairs. Rebecca didn't seem to notice that she fell, apparently now absorbed in whatever she was thinking about.

"Whoa! Are you okay?!"

It was then that Rebecca snapped out of her trance. She turned around and looked back to see Raven still lying face down on the stairs. Some people at the bottom of the stairs were looking at her in concern.

One of them hurried up the stairs and held a hand out to Raven, pulling her up. Raven made some sort of noise that sounded quite similar to a monkey and rubbed her nose.

"Ow, that really hurt…" Raven muttered and looked over to the person who helped her up. "Thank you."

The girl who'd helped her shook her head. "Not a problem…" She looked back down at the stairs where four other girls stood and then looked back at Raven. "Actually, do you think you could help us?"

"Sure," Raven answered. Rebecca had walked back down the stairs and stood next to Raven, listening to the girl as well.

"Could you help us find the… uh… stage?" the girl asked and frowned. "I know that's kind of vague but that's where we were told to go…"

Raven nodded and began heading down the stairs again, the girl and Rebecca both following along. Once Raven reached the bottom of the stairs, one of the girls jumped towards her excitedly and grabbed her hands.

"Are you competing in this tournament?!"

"Uh… yeah."

"Wow!" the girl continued and began shaking her hands. "I get to meet a Pokémon League enterer… Entry… Entrant… Person in the tournament! My name's Yui, it's nice to meet you!"

Raven nodded unsurely. "Um, yeah! It's nice to meet you too, my name's Raven…"

Yui still stood there, looking at Raven in awe and not letting go of her hands. One of the other girls coughed, apparently trying to get her attention, but it didn't work.

"…Yui!" one of them finally said and pat Yui on the back. Yui snapped out of whatever odd trance she'd been in and let go of Raven, laughing.

"Sorry!"

"Er… It's fine…" Raven muttered and began walking off, the others all following her like a bunch of ducks following their mother.

Rebecca looked at the other girls, all of them younger and shorter than she was. "So, ah, why are you guys headed to the stage…?"

"We're a band," one of them said. "We were asked to come here and perform music for the tournament."

"Wow, really?" Rebecca asked and opened up her laptop. "What're you guys called?"

"Our group is called Ho-kago Tea Time," she answered and watched Rebecca start typing. "Ah, you probably won't find anything about us… We're just a band that was formed for a club at school. In fact, I'm personally wondering how in the world the people here found out about us…"

"But Mio, this is a good thing!" another girl said and nodded. "If we want to be a band known around the world, starting here is a great place!"

The girl, Mio, muttered quietly, "I don't remember anyone ever saying we wanted to be known world-wide…"

"Want to listen to one of our songs?" the girl who'd just spoke said and reached in her pocket, taking out a mp3 player. "Come here, put on the headphones!"

Rebecca and Raven both stepped over to her and took a hold of the little bud headphones, putting them in one ear.

"…Well?!" she asked.

"Ritsu…" Mio muttered and sighed, shaking her head.

"What, you guys really did this song?!" Raven asked.

"Yep!" Ritsu said happily and nodded. "Lyrics, music, singing, everything!"

Ritsu then pointed at Mio. "Mio plays the bass and she's the one singing that song, Tsumugi plays the keyboard, Yui plays the guitar, Azusa plays an electric guitar-" Ritsu paused and held her finger in front of Raven. "There's a big difference between an electric guitar and a regular guitar, you know."

"…I can tell that."

"And I play the drums!" Ritsu finished.

Rebecca and Raven remained in awe as they continued listening to the song Ritsu was playing for them.

"Um…" one of the girls said and tapped on Ritsu's shoulder. "Shouldn't we be trying to find the stage?"

"Oh, yeah!" Ritsu said and quickly took the headphones out of Rebecca and Raven's ears. "Sorry! Quick, where's the stage?"

"Well…" Rebecca started slowly. "The battles have already started, so you probably have plenty of time now to get there."

Ritsu looked shocked. "What?! We missed the entrance ceremony?!"

Yui quickly pulled Raven into a hug. "Ohh, Raven! Please help us find the stage!"

Raven gave her a confused look. "Stage? I don't know where the stage is."

All of them looked at her in disbelief. "…Are you serious?"

"I'm, uh, sorry…"

---

Some time later (much, much later), Wally stood up from his seat, ticket in hand. "Okay, guys! It's my turn to go now!"

"Ah, really?" Brendan asked. "You're in the G group so… I have to battle right after you."

Wally nodded. "Yep! Well, I'm off!"

"Good luck!" Brendan, Pearl, Harley, and Nami shouted as Wally hurried off. Yellow was still fast asleep.

Just as Wally approached the exit door, it opened and an exhausted looking Raven stumbled in, being followed by the blank faced Rebecca.

"Oh, Raven!" Wally said happily and grinned. "What took you so long to get back here?"

Brendan also noticed Raven coming in. "What, did you get lost in the halls or did someone mistake you for a lost child and tried to help you find your mother?"

"No, that's not it," Raven said and shook her head. "I was being courted."

"What, by a couple of wild Pokémon? Wait, which kind of courted are we talking about? Is someone sueing you and you need a lawyer?"

Raven ignored him and began patting Wally's shoulder. "Good luck, Wally! If you look up into the crowd and it looks like I'm asleep, I'm not! I swear!"

"Um… okay…" Wally murmured and nodded. "Got it! Thanks!"

As he hurried out of the seating area, Raven and Rebecca made their way over to where the others were sitting. Raven laid down across the seats, only to be pulled up by Pearl.

"Stop that, those seats are dirty!… Probably."

"But I want to lay down!"

"Then be like Yellow and sleep sitting up!"

Raven frowned and scooted over to sit next to Yellow. She laid down and rested her head on Yellow's lap, much to the horror of Nami, whose angry screams came out muffled as Harley covered her mouth.

"Anyways…" Brendan began and looked over at Rebecca, who had begun typing away on her laptop. "What took you guys so long?"

"We were helping some people out, that's all," Rebecca answered. "Although Raven did manage to get us lost…"

Brendan sighed and shook his head. "I'm so sorry that she bothered you."

"No, she didn't. Not really, at least."

Everyone's attention was brought to the battle field as all the group G battlers had gathered and were entering the field. Wally was easily identifiable by his green hair, and was followed by his Gardevoir.

"All right! Group G, you may begin battling… NOW!"

---

Wally's Gardevoir immediately put up a green shield around itself as all the other Pokémon began their own attacks. Its eyes turned blue as it pointed at one of its opponents and moved its arms to the side, tossing the Pokémon to the ground.

Wally clapped his hands happily. "Way to go, Gardevoir! Keep doing your best!"

Wally then blinked in surprise as he noticed that one of the other trainers was looking at him. The trainer quickly glanced away when he noticed that Wally was looking back at him.

"Oh, wait! You're that boy from earlier today!" Wally said. "The one Raven got angry at!"

"So? What's your point?" the boy muttered.

Wally frowned. "Nothing. You're just staring at me, that's all."

The boy snorted and crossed his arms. "Yeah, well, I just had an idea, that's all."

"Like what?"

"Let's tell our Pokémon to work together!" he suggested. "Your Gardevoir and my Sceptile! I already noticed that other people are telling their Pokémon to do it too and there was never any rules saying that we couldn't!"

Wally seemed to think for a moment before he nodded. "Alright! Let's do it! Gardevoir!"

Gardevoir put up another green shield and turned around to look back at Wally.

"Work together with that Sceptile!" Wally said and pointed at the boy's green, lizard-like Pokémon.

Gardevoir nodded and raised its hand towards the Sceptile, putting up a green shield around it as well.

Sceptile now ran towards its opponents without a worry, the shield preventing it from getting hurt. The leaves on its arms became sharper as it lunged back and slashed at one of the Pokémon.

Putting its hands in front of its chest, Gardevoir braced itself as electricity began sparking from the small space inbetween its hands. The electricity began covering its entire body as it pointed its hands at an opponent and shot a bolt of electricity at it.

Sceptile then hopped back a bit to stand next to Gardevoir. It muttered something to Gardevoir, who nodded and put up another shield that covered both of them.

Sceptile placed a hand on the ground and appeared to start focusing on something. In a moment, roots of all sizes began coming out of the ground, tangling up and striking the remaining Pokémon. Gardevoir began charging electricity between its hands before placing its hands on one of the roots, sending electricity traveling down it and shocking all of the Pokémon tangled up.

"Annddd, that's it! It appears that all Pokémon other than Gardevoir and Sceptile are unconscious, so these two are the winners of the G group! Congratulations!"

Wally began clapping his hands happily as the roots began retreating back into the ground and hurried over to Gardevoir, giving it a hug.

"Great job Gardevoir!" he said happily and looked over at Sceptile. "You too, Sceptile!"

The boy returned Sceptile, who was apparently becoming embarrassed from Wally's compliments, to its Poké Ball and turned around, walking out of the arena. Wally returned Gardevoir and followed him eagerly.

"Thanks for teaming up with me!" Wally said happily.

The boy shrugged. "It was nothing. I just saw that your Gardevoir would be a worthy Pokémon for Sceptile to team up with, that's all."

"Ah… okay…" Wally murmured and looked at the ground. "Anyways, I'm Wally!"

He sighed and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. My name's Emerald."

As the two began heading upstairs, they passed by Brendan, who was on his way down to the arena. Brendan held his hand up and said, "Quick, Wally! High five!"

Wally nodded and hurried up to him, slapping his raised hand. "Good luck, Brendan!"

"Thanks," Brendan answered and walked past Emerald, who was pretending to become sick from the "friendshippy" scene.


	63. Chapter Sixty Two

Author's Notes: Ohhh, I wish I could write this all faster than how I am... Battles are just hard to write...

* * *

Chapter Sixty-Two

"I am _so_ sorry," Swampert apologized, watching as one of his opponents passed out. "I had a burrito for lunch today…"

Brendan smacked himself. "Arceus, that's disgusting! Swampert, stop saying gross things like that!"

"Sorry, Bren!" Swampert answered and saluted. "It was really tasty too…"

"All right everyone!" the announcer shouted. "These are our winners from the H group! Swampert and Dusclops! And hey, if anyone's noticed yet, one of group H's winners is Butler, the man who today set up one of our battlefields!"

Brendan looked over at the man, who was talking to his Pokémon. He returned it to its Poké Ball and noticed Brendan, giving him a wave.

"And that's the end of the Pokémon League preliminaries! Contestants, please be present at the arena by 10:00 A.M.! Now, to close the night, we have a band here to perform for us! Please wait a moment for them to get set up!…"

As the announcer continued babbling on like a broken record, Brendan and the others trainers began leaving the arena, passing by people who were helping the band set up.

Once Brendan came out in the main hall, he was tackled by an excited Pearl, who was screaming and shouting about how happy and proud she was of him. Nami, Wally, Harley, Raven, Yellow, Rebecca, and, for some reason, Emerald were all there as well, talking away.

"Brendan, are these your friends?"

Brendan managed to push Pearl away for a moment to see that the man named Butler was standing behind him, looking at the group in amusement.

"I guess… Why does it matter?"

"No reason! You're all just a very colorful group!"

Brendan rolled his eyes as he was attacked by Pearl yet again.

"Well… Who wants to see a magic trick?"

Raven's hand shot up quickly. "I do! I want to!"

"All right!" Butler said and reached into his pocket, taking out a coin. "What do you see here?"

"…Money."

Butler nodded and stepped back, flipping the coin in the air. It suddenly exploded and Butler grabbed something, holding it out to Raven.

"A bouquet of flowers, for the ladies!"

Raven clapped happily and took the bouquet of flowers, looking over at Yellow and pointing at them. "Look! He turned a coin into flowers! Haha!"

"Well… I'll be seeing you tomorrow then?" Butler asked, looking at Brendan.

Brendan nodded. "Right."

"I'm off then! Enjoy the rest of your night!"

Butler snapped his fingers and another explosion occurred; when the smoke disappeared, he was gone.

"Wow!" Raven said happily. "He really _is_ a magician!"

Brendan began smacking himself on the forehead and muttered something about her being gullible.

Music suddenly started playing and Raven squealed loudly, earning herself odd looks from just about everyone there. "My favorite band is playing!"

Rebecca tilted her head. "…But you just learnt of them today."

"I know! Now they're my favorite band!"

"…That was fast."

---

Sometime later, the group headed back to their room. Rebecca finally parted from the group, heading off to her own room, but for some reason Emerald was still with them.

"Why are you still here?!" Raven snapped at him.

"C-cause I am, that's why!" Emerald argued.

The two continued shouting at each other, although no one else seemed like they were going to make them stop anytime soon. Yellow stared at Emerald for a bit until she nodded to herself and walked over to the two.

"Emerald, do you not have a room to stay in?"

Emerald seemed to be at a loss for words. "H-how did you know that?!"

"Because what other reason would you've followed us to our room for?" Brendan muttered quietly.

Pearl walked over to Emerald and pat his head. "It's okay! If you want to stay in here, that's fine!"

"I've been meaning to say this for a while now," Brendan began, "but did one of you replace my sister with a look-a-like with a much nicer personality?"

No one bothered to answer him, either because they didn't care or because they had just noticed that somehow, in the short timespan of around a minute, both Raven and Yellow had changed into their pajamas.

"Okay, we're ready for bed!~" Yellow sang happily.

"…That was freakishly fast," Brendan said.

Neither responded to his comment and rather jumped on one of the beds next to the window, crawling under the covers.

"And… there's no need for you two to sleep in the same bed. There's still an extra bed."

Harley gasped loudly and grabbed Brendan by his shoulders, shaking him around. "How dare you! It's obvious that the last bed is being used for storage reasons!" Harley pointed towards one of the beds, which was covered with bags and other unneeded, but still there, items.

Brendan rolled his eyes and pulled himself free from Harley's grip. He then noticed that Pearl was standing by the door, looking at it oddly as though she'd never seen a door before.

"Pearl…?"

Pearl looked up and pointed at the door. "…There's no lock on this door!"

"Oh, hon, that's nothing to worry about!" Harley said and started laughing. He abruptly stopped and narrowed his eyes. "Because, after all, I'm a _very_ good guard dog."

Brendan stepped away from Harley. "Okay, I seriously don't want to have him sleeping in the bed next to me. Better yet, I don't want him in the room."

"Why, Brendan?" Harley asked and ran over to him, trying to give him a hug. "You don't trust my guard dog skills?"

"No, because you're creepy!" he screamed and smacked him away. "Pearl! Get him away!"

Pearl didn't answer or bother to help him. Nami laughed, Emerald and Wally exchanged concerned looks with each other, and somehow Raven and Yellow had already fallen fast asleep.

---

The next morning, Raven, Brendan, Wally, Nami, and Emerald stood on the beach with all of their Pokémon out of their Poké Balls. Ritsu, Yui, and Tsumugi, three of the girls from the previous day, stood there with them.

"All right! To get pumped in the morning, do you know what I do?!" Ritsu shouted loudly.

"Sing in the shower?" Raven asked.

"Chase around your neighbors with a baseball bat?" Emerald asked.

"Wrong!… Although that's not a bad idea," Ritsu said. "No! I take runs on the beach!"

Yui tilted her head. "…When do you ever do that, Ritsu?"

"Never, actually!" Ritsu said. "But I thought of it, so now we'll do it! Everyone, we're gonna run around the island, got it?!"

Brendan raised his hand. "…I'm gonna sit over there and watch you all do that. Have fun."

Swampert grabbed a hold of him before he could start running away. "Ohhh, no you don't! You're running with us! Let's run, now, now, now!"

And like that, they all took off running down the beach.

Nearby, Pearl stood with Yellow, Harley, Mio, and Azusa. Other people were outside as well, standing around with their Pokémon or their friends.

"Why do they have so much energy right now?!" Pearl whined and rubbed her hands. "I'm freezing and I want to go back to bed!"

"Tell me about it…" Mio mumbled. "By the way, I'm totally sorry that Yui and Ritsu ran into your room like that this morning!"

Pearl shook her head. "It's fine! Besides, when half the people in your room have sleep talking problems, you're likely to be already awake…"

Somewhere along the beach, Swampert had tripped and crushed Brendan under his rather large body. The rest of the group had stopped running and had turned around to laugh hysterically at them.

"…That must hurt," Yellow said and pointed at Swampert and Brendan.

---

"Good morning everyone, and welcome to the second day of Hoenn's Pokémon League tournament! Yesterday, the prelims were held and today is when the real battles yesterday! If you'll look over here, these are our 15 contestants!…"

A big screen set up above the audience turned on and showed the pictures of 15 people.

"As you may notice, there should 16 contestants but… well, this morning we received notification that one of our contestants suddenly decided to drop out. Anyways, whichever person ends up no one to battle will just face the winner of the match before them! Let's mix up the order of the contestants to see who will battle who…"

The 15 pictures all flipped over and began to mix up with each other. After a few seconds, they stopped moving around and flipped back over. Eight pictures were on the left side of the screen and seven pictures on the right; the pictures were connected with brackets.

"As you can see, contestants battle the person whose picture they're connected to. For these battles, trainers can use only two Pokémon. There are no time limits, so no need to worry about that… Anyways, let's get on with our first battle! Wally versus Vito! Will these two please come out into the arena?"

Outside the battlefield stood the 15 contestants, all of them looking at the chart of who'd they be battling. Wally already began panicking at the fact that he had to battle first, and when the announcer said his name, he practically fainted.

"Wally, Wally!" Raven and Brendan both said and held him up. "Go on, get out there!"

"I don't wanna…" Wally whined and looked over at where another boy was waiting.

The boy waved. "Come on kid, we gotta go out there!"

"Go, Wally, go!" Raven shouted and pushed him towards the other boy, who grabbed his arm and began dragging him out there.

"Noooo! Someone save me!"

"Good luck!" Brendan said and waved.

Emerald was frowning at them. "Don't you feel bad doing that?"

"Doing what? It's his turn to battle."

Emerald began to say something but shook his head. "You know what, never mind. I have nothing else to say."

"That's nice to know."


	64. Chapter Sixty Three

Author Notes: Short chapter. As usual. I'm so lazy. I want to hurry up and finish this but...

* * *

Chapter Sixty-Three

"All right, here's Wally and Vito!" the announcer shouted as the two boys took their places on the field. "Trainers, please send out your Pokémon and the battle will begin!"

Wally took in a deep breath and let it out. "All right… Gardevoir, go!"

"Shiftry, you're up!"

The two trainers tossed their Poké Balls, Wally letting out the white and green Gardevoir and Vito sending out a brown and white, tree-ish looking Pokémon.

"All right, battle start!"

Wally gulped and pointed at Shiftry. "Gardevoir, use Psychic!"

Gardevoir's eyes began to glow a blue color as it held its hands out at Shiftry. With a fling of its arms, Gardevoir attempted to send the Pokémon falling backwards…

…Except, you know, nothing happened.

Vito snapped his fingers. "Aw, come on, you should've known better than that, kid! Shifty, Dark Pulse!"

Shiftry held its hands in front of itself, sending dark purple rings shooting out at Gardevoir. The rings slammed into Gardevoir, who had raised up its arms to protect itself.

"Sucker Punch, Shiftry!"

Just as Gardevoir prepared to attack again, Shiftry suddenly appeared in front of it and punched it in the face. Gardevoir fell backwards and tried to get up, only for Shiftry to punch it again.

Gardevoir fell back on the ground and didn't get back up after Shiftry had punched it repeatedly.

Wally could barely say a word as he quickly returned Gardevoir to its Poké Ball. He took out another Poké Ball and tossed it. "Flygon, it's your turn!"

A green dragon Pokémon came out of the ball and started flying around in the air.

Brendan, who was still with the other contestants on the first floor, squealed like a little girl and gave himself stares from everyone. "It's that Flygon I wanted to see yesterday!… So, wait, that means he _did_ have it! That little…"

"Brendan, shut up," Raven ordered.

"What, why should-"

"Brendan!" Emerald snapped. "Shut up!"

Brendan spun around to look at Emerald. "Why are you-"

"Brendan, shut up," Rebecca ordered.

"What… why…" Brendan mumbled and sighed. "Fine. Asses."

"That's right, my ass is fine!" Emerald said and nodded. "…Wait, what the heck am I saying? Brendan, shut up, you're making me say weird things!"

In less than five minutes after Wally sent out Flygon, it had also been defeated by Vito's Shiftry. Needless to say, Wally was horrified that he had lost.

Out where the other contestants were watching the battle on a t.v., Brendan stood there, dumbfounded.

"No way… The Flygon lost."

"Question!" Raven said and glared at Brendan. "What is it with you and freaking Flygon?"

Brendan looked back at her. "Flygon is Flygon, and Flygon are awesome."

"…Huh? That made no sense."

Just then, Wally and Vito came out from the battlefield, with Vito talking on and on about different things Wally could've done to possibly win.

"Wallyyyyy!" Raven yelled and ran over to Wally, pulling him into a hug. "Don't listen to that-"

Wally suddenly pushed Raven off of himself and began running off. "What the-? Wally!" Raven shouted and began running after him, only to be stopped by one of the other contestants.

"Hey!" Raven yelled and looked up at the blonde woman. "What're you doing? Let me go!"

"It's probably best if you leave him be for now," she said.

Brendan nodded. "She's right, you know. It's obvious he doesn't want to be near anyone right now."

"What would you know, huh?" Raven snapped. "Wally's different than you! He doesn't-"

"What if _you_ were the one who lost?" Brendan asked. Raven stopped for a moment and seemed to think. "Would you want someone who you wanted to battle be there to try and comfort you?"

"…Yes."

Brendan sighed and began shaking his head. Meanwhile, the announcer called the names of the next two battlers…

"Annika and Emerald, please come out to the battlefield!"

"All right!" Emerald shouted. "Watch me whoop this lady's butt!"

A middle-aged woman smiled at him. "Oh, do you think you can, little boy?"

"Whatttt, I'm battling an old lady?" Emerald whined.

"Hey, I'm not that old! I'm only 45!"

"And you haven't aged a day past 50."

"You yourself haven't aged a day past five."

"Will you both quit arguing and go out there?" Brendan asked.

Emerald began pouting. "Fine! Raven, be sure to watch this! Not all women are meant to be-… Hey, where'd Raven go?"

Brendan, as well as the woman who had stopped her, both looked around themselves.

"…She left," Brendan answered. "Aw, damn, she left!"

Wally had run a pretty long way from the Pokémon League building and finally began slowing to a stop. He began trying to catch his breath before he heard someone shout his name.

Of course, the person shouting it was the last person he wanted to see right then.

"Wally! The heck did you push me away like that?" Raven snapped and ran up behind him, smacking his back.

Wally looked at the ground. "…Sorry. For losing so early in the Pokémon League."

Raven frowned. "I don't give a crap about that! Don't get all teary eyed over it, it's just a battle."

"Yeah, just a battle at the Pokémon League!" Wally snapped. "I feel so stupid… I got nervous out there, I didn't know what to do… I let my Pokémon get beat because I didn't know enough…"

"Well…" Raven paused to think for a moment before she slapped Wally's back once again. "Well, you always have next year to try again! Train hard, young grasshopper, and you may win next year!"

"…Grasshopper?"

"Yeah, you know, the little bugs that are-"

"I know what a grasshopper is, why are you calling me it?"

Raven paused and began stroking an imaginary beard. "Because you are the young grasshopper and I am the grasshopper's master, the old praying mantis."

"…Okay, you lost me."

"No matter. Grasshopper, hug your master!"

Out of fear of getting an earful from her, Wally reluctantly gave her a hug.

Only to have her hug him back so tightly that he swore he heard his bones break.


	65. Chapter Sixty Four

Author's Notes: There's one part in this chapter marked with a little *, because I made a reference to another series which not everyone would know... Therefore, at the end of the chapter is what the reference was, yadda yadda...

* * *

Chapter Sixty Four

"Ha! Was I right, or was I right?" Emerald bragged as he walked out of the battlefield, going over to where Brendan was. "That battle was so easy that it was ridiculous!"

Emerald paused as he noticed that Raven was there too. "Oh, found your way back? Did you get lost or something? By the way, I just battled a woman… And won! You see, it's because Pokémon battling is a man's job, not a-"

"Shut it."

"RAVEN!~~"

Raven frowned as she heard someone's familiar squeal of her name. Nami charged over to her, stopping and throwing her hand out to her.

"It's my turn to battle next!~"

"That's nice, get your hand out of my face."

"And so, I dedicate this battle to you!" she shouted. "Watch me closely, darling!"

And with that, Nami hurried off to go into the battle arena, waving to her the entire time she ran off.

"…That girl scares me," Emerald said. "And hey, what's it with her calling you darling and dedicating crap to you? You're both girls! That's totally-"

"Yeah, I don't know," Raven cut him off. "I don't know where she got that obsession with me from and she doesn't seem to hear a word I say." Raven then paused for a moment, having a blank look on her face. "…I'm hungry. Let's get something to eat."

Brendan and Emerald both looked at her in exasperation, but nodded anyways.

The three had gone to a small eating area inside the Pokémon League building, sitting in a booth by a window. Nearby it was a Pokémon Center area, a TV up on the wall displaying the current battle going on. However, the area was pretty empty, due to most people being in the spectator area watching the battle.

"And so, I was wondering…" Raven began while eating some kind of unknown substance. "Whatever happened to those two, uh, groups? What was it, Team Lava and Team Water?"

"It was Team Magma and Team Aqua," Brendan corrected. "And, like, why are just wondering about this now? Don't you remember what happened?"

Raven shook her head.

Brendan sighed and rolled his eyes. "Maxie and Archie were arrested, as well as any of those idiot members. But I think Steven said that there are still the remaining members that weren't there at Sootopolis that need to be found… He said that he doesn't have a single idea where their hideouts are."

"Ohhhhh," Raven said and nodded. "I see, that sucks. By the way, Emerald, you're kind of short."

Emerald glared. "What's that got to do with anything?"

"Well, it's just that I remember… Winona had said that she got the five smallest trainers she could find in Hoenn but… I mean, I think you're smaller than me. Also, I think she was lying. There are plenty of other people smaller than the five she chose. I think she chose us because we happened to be there when that was all happening. Also-"

"I am not smaller than you!" Emerald screamed, slamming his hands down on the table they sat at and jumping up.

The few people that were there turned around to stare at him and Emerald quickly sat back down, looking a bit sheepish.

"Anyways…" Emerald muttered. "It doesn't matter. I wouldn't have helped out if she asked, because I honestly didn't give a crap when it was happening. 'Course, I didn't really appreciate all the freaking weather changes and the freaking sunlight at 3 in the morning…"

None of them said anything, continuing to eat their food in silence. Well, unfortunately their silence was short lived.

"Anndddd, boo!" someone shouted from behind the seats that Emerald and Brendan sat at. The two didn't even blink and both merely turned around to look at the blonde haired girl that was there.

"That's nice. Who are you?" Brendan asked.

"The heck? I didn't scare you? Not even a little bit?"

"Uh, no."

She started pouting. "That's sucks! Hey, Brawly, did you get us food yet?"

Nearby was the familiar blue haired trainer, coming over to her with a tray of food and a sad look on his face.

"Why do I have to do everything you order me to do?" he asked.

"Because you lost the fight, that's why!" the girl said happily.

Brendan waved slightly to Brawly. "Hey, tell me that you two are dating so I can punch Raven."

Brawly suddenly looked excited. "We're dating!"

Brendan looked at Raven and drew back his arm, getting ready to punch her.

"Hey, hey, hey! No!" Raven yelled and began hiding under the table. "Greta! Use your red truth to correct that statement!" *

"…Red truth? The heck is that?" the girl, Greta, asked. "But anyways, move over, let me sit down!"

Greta and Brawly both squished themselves into the seat that Raven was in. "So, what's up?" Greta asked. "You guys skipping out on watching the battles? That's cool, I was busy beating up Brawly!"

"Beating up Brawly?" Raven asked and got back up from under the table.

"Yeah, yeah!" Greta laughed and pointed at Brawly. "Look, he's still getting a nose bleed from where I punched him!"

Brawly covered up his nose, which was indeed beginning to bleed. "W-whatever! It's not my fault, I wasn't fully awake!"

"Lies! You were too!"

"Enough, you two!" Brendan snapped. "I'm trying to have a freaking peaceful lunch here! Can't you people understand that? Jeez…"

And yet again, they all went silent. And, yet again, that silence was broken in a short moment by someone else.

"Hey, Raven!~" Yellow shouted, running over to them. She was waving excitedly and, in all her excitement, tripped and fell face down on the ground.

However, Yellow was still talking a mile a minute despite being on the floor. Raven hurried over to pull her up from the ground.

"Raven, Pearl gave me, like, this _great_ idea! I should help you train for your battle! So, come on, let's get out there, let's go battle, come on, time's a wastin'!"

"…Is there something wrong with you?" Raven asked. "That's the most I've ever heard come out your mouth and you're talking really fast like those people on infomercials."

Brendan nodded. "True, true. Yellow, could you possibly be looking into a career in the infomercial business?"

"I had something totally awesome to drink today! Like, like, it was called coffee or something! It tasted absolutely _disgusting_! But, like, I couldn't stop drinking it! And now I'm so… so…" Yellow stammered and let out a squeal. "Let's go outside!"

Raven nodded and Yellow grabbed her arm, dragging her away. Raven waved to the others and followed the way-too-hyper Yellow.

Just before they reached the door, Yellow collapsed again. "Ugh… I'm so… tired…"

"It wore off that fast?" Emerald and Brendan both muttered.

"Okay…" Raven muttered and looked at her odd group of Pokémon. "Maybe I should… Nah… Let's… hm…"

"Here, I have an idea!" Piplup said. "Guru-n, Chao, and I battle all the time, so how about the others get some training in?"

Cherrim tilted his head to the side. "Huh? I battle all the time too!"

"Yeah, but you're no good at it," Piplup answered.

"Oh…" Cherrim said and looked at the ground. "Right."

"All right then!" Raven shouted. "Cherrim, Pichu, and Magnemite, it's your time to shine!"

Piplup smacked himself and shook his head. "Your time to shine…?"

Yellow stood nearby, talking to her own Pokémon. "Okay then! Chuchu, Omny, and Gravvy!"

Raven glanced at Yellow's Pokémon before looking at her own. "Um… Okay… Magnemite, use Thunder Shock on Gravvy!"

Piplup screamed. "Stupid, that won't work!"

Raven frowned and looked back at him. "…Why not?"

"Golem is part ground, so electricity won't work on it! Duh!"

"Don't 'duh' me!"

"DUH!"

Pichu let out a sigh. "Will you two quit it already?"

Yellow grinned. "Okay then… Chuchu, use Thunderbolt!"

Chuchu gave a quick nod before she let loose a bolt of electricity towards Cherrim, Magnemite, and Pichu.

"Pichu and Magnemite, try to take that attack!"

Pichu and Magnemite quickly moved to stand next to each other, letting the electricity strike them. The two seemed nearly unharmed from the attack, only Pichu wincing slightly.

"Omny, Ice Beam!"

An icy beam shot towards the group. This time, for some reason, Cherrim jumped over Magnemite and Pichu and stood in front of the beam, trying to withstand the attack.

But alas, it didn't seem to out too well. Cherrim tripped backwards and the beam sent him crashing into Pichu and Magnemite.

"Darn it, Cherrim!" Pichu whined and pushed him off. "What are you doing…?"

Pichu took a step back from Cherrim, looking at him oddly. "Hey… are you okay…?"

Cherrim didn't answer, and was standing up, his head hanging down. Magnemite moved to hide behind Pichu, its single eye frowning. If eyes could frown, that is.

And then Cherrim was running towards Yellow's Pokémon. Chuchu ran towards Cherrim, spinning around and hitting him with her tail.

Cherrim then bit her tail.

"I knew it! Cherrim's a cannibal!" Piplup shrieked.

"Actually… Wouldn't he be a cannibal if he ate other Cherrim?" Raven asked.

"Oh, yeah, I guess he would…" Piplup said and muttered something. "No, wait, this isn't the time to talk about this!"

Raven shrugged. "Oh Piplup, how very tsundere you are."

"Tsun-what?"

Chuchu was busy screaming and swinging her tail around, trying to get Cherrim off. "Cherrim, quit it! That hurts!"

Just then, Brawly and Greta exited the Pokémon League building. Brawly raised his hand and began running towards them. "Hey guys, having-"

Chuchu swung her tail hard enough to send Cherrim flying in the air. Cherrim spun around and landed on Brawly's head. And began chewing on it.

"What the hell? Raven! Cherrim's eating me alive!"

"Oh… In that case… Have fun."

Yellow shook her head. "Raven! We need to stop him!"

Raven looked at her in confusion. "Who? Cherrim or Brawly?"

"Cherrim!"

"Er… Right…" Raven mumbled and glanced at Pichu and Magnemite. "Um… Pichu, you don't mind under Thunder Wave on Cherrim, do you?"

Pichu let out a sigh and walked over to where Brawly was rolling on the ground, screaming bloody murder. As much as Pichu wanted to sit back and watch the amusing scene, he decided to put Brawly out of his misery.

A small spark of electricity left Pichu and zapped both Brawly and Cherrim. Cherrim loosened his grip on Brawly's head and fell on the ground. Brawly simply lay there, looking dead.

"Um… So, uh, that's enough training for today! Ahaha…" Raven said and quickly returned Cherrim to his Poké Ball. "Say, uh, let's go watch the battles! Uh, yeah, totally!"

Yellow, Greta, and all the other Pokémon nodded and they all began walking inside, pretending nothing happened.

"Um, is Brawly going to be okay?" Yellow asked and looked back over her shoulder.

"Yeah, he'll be fine!" Greta said and slapped Yellow's back. She quickly looked back at Brawly. "…Probably."

"What?"

"He's definitely fine! Don't worry!"

Pearl took out her PokéNav and looked at its screen. "Ugh. Nami's been battling for freaking two hours! Isn't there any time limit on how long these battles can last?"

Harley shook his head, his hands clasped and looking quite happy. "Nope! It's the Pokémon League, hon… These battles can last for days!"

Wally gasped. "Really? Days?"

"That's right!" Harley said and nodded. He then scooted over to invade Wally's personal space and leaned in closely to his face.

"There was once a battle that lasted 2 weeks."

Pearl sighed. "Harley, stop lying to him. You know Wally's too gullible for his own good."

"I'm not gullible!" Wally whined. "And, uh, Harley? You're really getting too close to me… Can you scoot over a bit?"

Harley sighed and moved back to where he was sitting. He folded his arms across his chest, looking out at the battlefield.

"Okay! Medicham, use Thunder Punch!" Nami shouted.

Her Pokémon nodded, dashing towards its opponent, a purple, star shaped Pokémon. As it pulled back its arm, electricity began charging around its fist. Medicham then punched the other Pokémon, sending sparks literally flying.

The star Pokémon toppled backwards, apparently having fainted.

"And the long battle between Nami and Natsuho has finally ended!" the announcer shouted. "The winner is Nami! Congratulations!"

The crowd began clapping and cheering, probably out of joy that the battle had finally ended. Nami was blowing kisses at the crowd, shouting "Thank you!" and skipping around. Her opponent was kneeling down next to her fainted Pokémon and patted one of its appendages before returning it to its Poké Ball.

"We'll take a short five minute break before we start our next battle! This will be the last battle of the day, the rest will continue tomorrow! Our next trainers will be Diane and Michelle, so you two, get ready!"

People in the crowd began getting up and doing things. Pearl let out a yawn and stood up, walking out of the area and being followed by Harley and Wally.

"Jeez, that was freaking long…"

Wally nodded. "It was! Say, do any of you know anything about the next trainers?"

Pearl shook her head. "Nope, not a thing."

"Well…" Harley began slowly and tapped his chin. "There was one coordinator I competed against once whose name was Diane… She was pretty nice, but completely beat me in the contest. 'Course, I doubt it's the same Diane, since Diane is a pretty common name…"

"Actually, that would be the very same Diane!"

The three of them let out a scream and jumped away as they realized that Butler, the magician from the previous day, was standing right behind them.

"Diane happens to be a good friend of mine, and is also my assistant!" Butler explained. "Both she and I are taking part in the tournament. Also, Diane happens to frequently enter Pokémon contests, so that might be the very same person you were talking about!"

"O-oh… Is that so…" Pearl stammered and let out a sigh. "You scared the crap out of us!"

"I know I did," Butler said, a grin on his face. "And I enjoyed your girly screams."

Butler then put his arms around the three of them, looking at them. "Do you know the rest of the match-ups yet?"

"Um… no."

"Well, I'll tell you!" he said happily. "Tomorrow, Brendan will be battling against Rafe. Since I was matched without someone to battle, the winner of that battle will face me! Sid will battle Rebecca, and then Raven will battle Julie! Then, the next day, Vito will battle Emerald and-"

"Okay, we get it!" Pearl snapped.

"Oh, do you?" Butler said with a look of disappointment. "Well then… Make sure to cheer for my beloved Diane! Although I already have a feeling she'll win!"

Pearl nodded. "Yes, yes. We'll cheer for Diane."

And then, Butler was gone. In fact, none of them even saw him leave. But it didn't matter, because they didn't care.

Everyone began gathering back at the arena. This time, Brendan, Raven, Yellow, Emerald, Nami, and Greta were with the other three as they took their seats.

One of the trainers battling, a blonde woman wearing a long red coat, was already on the field, waiting patiently for the other trainer to arrive.

"We're sorry, but we're currently having some technical difficulties. Please wait patiently for a bit more, everyone!" the announcer's voice shouted.

"Technical difficulties?" Emerald mumbled and snorted. "Hah! I can't believe that!"

"Hey, even big events like this have problems once in a while," Brendan said. "So just be patient, got it?"

"Yeah, be patient!" Raven chimed in. "Midget."

"Shut up!" Emerald shouted and began getting red. "I'm not a midget!"

"You protest too much, oh small one."

"I'm not small!"

As Raven and Emerald continued fighting like toddlers, Harley glared at Yellow like she was some kind of expired food, Wally talked with Yellow, who was unaware of Harley's glares, and Nami and Greta watched Pearl use the PokéNav for something.

"We're sorry for the wait, everyone!" the announcer said. "However, it would appear as though one of our trainers, Michelle, has forfeited the match!"

Emerald jumped up and screamed, "ARE YOU KIDDING ME!" loud enough to make people in the crowd turn around and look at him.

"What?" Brendan mumbled and let out a sigh. "Another person dropped out of the competition? Not that I have any problems with it but…"

"Because of this," the announcer continued, "Diane automatically proceeds to the second round! This brings today to an end, finally! The next matches start again tomorrow at 10! Be sure to be there and cheer for your favorites!"

"Damn it!" Emerald whined as they began leaving the area. "I waited for nothing! For someone to forfeit before the match even started!"

"Yeah, that sucks," Greta agreed. She then looked up in surprise and began waving at someone. "Hey, Brawly! There you are!"

At that, Greta began running off towards him, with Raven and Yellow following her like baby ducks.

"…Wait for me!" Brendan shouted and began running after them.

Brawly seemed surprised as they all came over to where he was with Roxanne, Wattson, and Flannery. However, the other three all looked rather uncomfortable as they came over.

"…What's wrong?" Brendan asked, looking at their faces.

"It's, ah, nothing…" Roxanne mumbled.

"Nothing! Roxanne, it's not nothing!" Flannery said and began shaking her head. "It's terrible!"

"Flannery, keep your mouth shut!" Roxanne snapped. "It's supposed to be confidential! So be quiet!"

Brendan sighed. "Now that you said it's confidential, these other idiots are probably dying to know what it is."

Sure enough, everyone else was looking at them with excited expressions on their faces.

"But…" Roxanne stammered and sighed. "But you can't tell anyone else, got it?"

"Roger, commander!" Raven said and saluted.

Wattson leaned towards them and started whispering. "Well, that one trainer who just forfeited? The one named Michelle?"

"What about her?" Raven whispered and Brendan smacked her head. "…Ow."

"She didn't really forfeit…" Wattson whispered. "No one can find her at all."

Brendan frowned. "Well, shouldn't there be information about what room she's staying in?"

"You think we didn't check that already?" Roxanne snapped and quickly lowered her voice. "We checked her room. There's absolutely no sign of her there. In fact, the room looks like no one was ever in it to begin with."

This time, Greta gasped. "Egad!"

"Can it," Roxanne muttered. "We don't know where she went. She never notified anyone she was leaving, but I guess she must've left…"

No one said anything for a moment.

"Ah… well, I'm hungry," Raven said.

"Didn't you just eat?" Brendan asked.

"Yeah, but I'm hungry again."

"Anyways, don't tell anyone what we just told you, got it?" Roxanne asked, specifically looking at Raven.

"What?" Raven asked and shook her hands around. "I won't say a thing, I promise!"

"Yeah, she'll probably forget everything you just said," Brendan added and laughed.

As they all began walking away, Brendan began patting Raven's head. "So? Have you forgot it?"

"Forgot what?"

"What we were just told."

"…Told what?"

Brendan started laughing. "Very funny."

Raven frowned. "What's funny? I don't know what you're talking about."

"…Forget it. It's a pain talking to you."

* * *

* Red truth is... a random reference to the series Umineko no Naku Koro ni. Too lazy to explain it right now...


	66. Chapter Sixty Five

Author's Notes: I highly enjoy destroying the boundaries of the Pokemon video games, manga, and anime. I enjoy it. Very. Very. Much.

* * *

Chapter Sixty Five

The next morning, Brendan waited impatiently in the waiting room for the competitors, pacing back and forth.

Everyone else who was competing, minus those who lost yesterday, were also in the room. Most of them remained silent except for, predictably, Emerald, Nami, Raven, and another boy who kept attempting to flirt with Nami.

"You're Brendan Birch, correct?" a brown haired boy asked and walked over to Brendan, his hands in his pockets.

"Yeah… What of it?" Brendan answered.

"The name's Rafe," the boy said, flipping his hair gaily. "The match up's say that we'll be battling each other in a bit."

"…And?"

Rafe's eye twitched as he let out a sigh. "Nothing much. I just thought I'd be polite and say hello."

Brendan nodded slowly. "Right…"

"Brendan, Brendan!" Raven shouted and ran over to him. "What's a… um, what was it… bimbo?"

Brendan suddenly started laughing before abruptly stopping. "…That was funny. Now go away."

"Huh? But what is it?"

Just then, the announcer's voice blared over the speakers. "All right everyone, thanks for waiting! Will Brendan and Rafe please come out to the field?"

"Well, guess it's time to go…" Brendan mumbled as he and Rafe began walking out of the room.

"And now, let the battle… begin!"

Rafe quickly took out his Poké Ball and, making sure he flipped his hair once again for good measure, let out his first Pokémon.

"Blaziken, let's go!"

Brendan didn't even take a second to decide which Pokémon he was sending out first. "Swampert, go!"

Rafe sighed. "Trying to take the easy way out by picking a Pokémon with a type advantage? Not that it matters or anything; Blaziken will still be able to beat you, type disadvantage or not."

"Oh, shut it," Brendan muttered. "Swampert, use Surf!"

"Right away, commander!" Swampert answered back. He placed his palms on the ground and seemed to wait for a moment.

"Blaziken, Slash!"

Blaziken began running towards Swampert and jumped in the air, pulling back its arm and slashing forwards. Just then, the ground began cracking and water began spraying out of it. Swampert raised his arms and the water pulled back to make a giant wave that crashed over the entire battlefield, as well as crashing into Blaziken.

"Swampert, use Mud Shot!"

While Blaziken while still trying to get back up, Swampert opened his mouth and shot mud bullets at Blaziken. Blaziken lost its balance from the mud bullets and fell back into the water.

Rafe cursed under his breath before shouting, "Blaziken, use Blaze Kick!"

Blaziken got back up faster this time and jumped in the air. The bottom of its legs ignited in flames and it swung its leg around to kick Swampert in the face.

"Silly Brendan… Did you think that you could really get two hits in a row on Blaziken? Compared to Swampert, Blaziken is much faster… Even in water, it would never be that slow to get up," Rafe said and laughed. "So, do you see what I've been doing?"

"Um…" Brendan began and tapped his head. "…Not really, no."

Rafe sighed. "I wanted Blaziken's health to go down on purpose. There's a hint, guess the rest."

"Aw, come on, just tell me!"

"Nope."

Swampert was busy rubbing his face where Blaziken kicked him. "Ow, that hurts…"

"Blaziken, Flamethrower!"

Blaziken blasted the not-paying-attention Swampert, who quickly sprayed himself with water to put out the flames quickly.

Brendan was still muttering to himself when he suddenly realized what Rafe was talking about. "Ah, now I remember! Swampert, I think Blaziken's ability is kicking in, so those fire attacks are probably going to hurt more than they should!"

"Yeah, thanks for the late tip…" Swampert muttered.

"Okay, Swampert, Mud Shot!"

"Blaziken, dodge it and slash!"

Swampert began shooting mud bullets, all of which Blaziken skillfully dodged before slashing Swampert's face. Swampert quickly retaliated by slamming his arm at Blaziken's head. Blaziken crashed into the ground but quickly picked itself up again.

"Blaziken, use Blaze Kick!"

"Swampert, protect yourself!"

Blaziken swung its leg at Swampert, who crossed his arms in front of himself as a shield.

"Use Hydro Pump!"

Swampert nodded and opened up his mouth, firing a torrent of water at Blaziken. The force of the water tossed Blaziken backwards, sending it crashing into a wall and falling on the floor unconscious.

"Blaziken has fainted! Rafe, please choose your next Pokémon!"

Rafe muttered something as he returned Blaziken to its Poké Ball and took out another one. "Glalie, go!"

Rafe sent out a Pokémon that looked like a giant floating face with black horns and giant teeth. "Glalie, use Hail!"

Glalie shot something up at the roof which began turning into a giant cloud in the stadium. Suddenly, hail began falling from the indoor cloud, hitting everyone in the crowd.

"Darn, should've brought an umbrella or something…" Pearl muttered.

Yellow smiled. "My hat's blocking the hail!"

"Well, aren't you just a lucky Psyduck…" Harley muttered.

"Swampert, use Surf!" Brendan shouted.

Swampert began forcing water out of the ground when Rafe shouted another attack for Glalie.

"Glalie, freeze that water!"

Glalie shot a blue beam at the water coming out of the ground, freezing it completely. Swampert looked down at his legs, noticing that they were encased in the frozen water.

"Uh oh… A bit of a problem…"

Brendan sighed, beginning to tap the side of his head. "Um… Let's see then… Use Mud Shot!"

"Got it, Commander!" Swampert said and began shooting at Glalie.

"Freeze it and send it back at Swampert!" Rafe ordered.

Glalie quickly froze all the mud bullets and began blowing cold wind at the frozen mud, sending them flying back towards Swampert.

Just before they hit, Brendan quickly took out Swampert's Poké Ball and returned him to it.

"What the-?" Rafe began and bit his lip. "Hey, you can't do that! That's cheating!"

"Ah, but no rules ever forbade it from being done," Brendan said. "Now… Grovyle, go!"

Grovyle came out of his Poké Ball, managing to land on the ice without slipping.

"Leaf Blade!"

Grovyle ran towards Glalie, jumping in the air and slashing at it with the leaves on his arms. Glalie bit Grovyle's arm, who started falling, only to bit held in the air by Glalie's grip on his arm.

"Throw it, Glalie!"

Glalie spun around and let go of Grovyle, sending him crashing into a wall.

"Blizzard!"

Before Grovyle even had time to get up, he was attacked by a sudden snowstorm, getting pelted with hail and wind.

"Take Down!"

Just as Grovyle opened his eyes, Glalie had come down towards him and slammed into him. Glalie backed away from Grovyle, who wasn't moving at all.

"Annnddd, Grovyle is unconscious! Brendan, you must send Swampert back out now!"

"Got it…" Brendan muttered and returned Grovyle, sending Swampert out again. "Swampert, use Take Down!"

Swampert ran as fast as he could (which actually wasn't very fast) and tried to slam himself into Glalie. However, Glalie simply moved out of the way of him.

"Come on, stay still so I can hit you!" Swampert whined.

Glalie frowned and shook its head.

"Swampert, use Low Kick!"

Swampert nodded and quickly swung his leg at Glalie. Glalie crashed to the ground, managing to break the ground with the force of its fall.

"And while it's still down! Use Take Down!"

This time, Swampert managed to land on top of Glalie, pushing it down into the ground. Swampert backed away from Glalie when it suddenly came back up from the ground, throwing itself at Swampert.

"Use Low Kick and Take Down again!"

"Glalie, use Blizzard!"

Glalie blew a blast of cold air at Swampert, who was beginning to swing his leg at Glalie. Swampert winced at the coldness and force of it, but his kick still managed to hit Glalie. Glalie crashed to the ground once again.

And this time it didn't get back up.

"Glalie is unable to battle! Therefore, the winner of this battle is Brendan! Congratulations!"

Brendan let out a sigh. "Good. Thought we were gonna lose there for a second…"

Swampert gave him a thumbs up. "Positive thinking there, Bren!"

"Shut it."

"Right, Commander!"

Rafe was busy muttering a string of curses as he returned Glalie to its Poké Ball. After letting out a sigh, he walked over to Brendan and held out his hand. "Good job Brendan… And good luck."

"Right. Thanks," Brendan said and shook his hand.

Meanwhile, the crowd had begun clapping and cheering, while a group of girls screamed, "WE LOVE YOU BRENDAN!"

"Oh crap, I have a fan club?" Brendan muttered and turned around to look at the group of girls, holding a large banner reading "Go Brendan!". He raised a hand and waved slightly at them, making them all squeal like the fan-girls they were.

"We'll now have a short break before proceeding to our next battle! Sid and Rebecca, please get yourselves ready for the battle!"

Rafe and Brendan began leaving the field, Swampert following them and blowing kisses at the crowd.

Back in the waiting room, Emerald ran up to Brendan and slapped his back. "Way to go, Brendan!"

"Um, yeah. Thanks," Brendan said and looked around. "…I don't see the loudmouth. Where is she?"

"Who, Raven?" Emerald asked. "One of the nurses came here and said they needed to talk with her about her entry or something like that."

"Oh, I see…"

Brendan and Emerald looked up at the T.V. in the room, which was showing the battle field. "Let the battle between Sid and Rebecca… begin!"

Just as the announcer shouted that, Raven came back in the room with a frown on her face.

"What's wrong?" Brendan asked and smirked. "Do the league rules prohibit idiots or 8 year olds from entering?"

"Shut up!" she snapped. "And if the rules were like, then Emerald wouldn't be allowed to enter!"

"What?" Emerald shouted. "Shut the hell up!"

"But anyways…" Raven said and sighed. "They told me that I can't enter Pichu, Magnemite, and Cherrim because they aren't at the required level. What the heck's a level anyways?"

Brendan shook his head. "Didn't you read the rules? They said that your Pokémon have to be over level 50 to enter… Huh? That means that your other Pokémon are over level 50? What the hell?"

"But… I don't understand…" Raven muttered. "How come Cherrim is still at level 25...?"

Brendan got ready to say something when a loud explosion was heard and the ground shook. Looking back at the T.V., Brendan saw that the entire stadium was covered in dust.

"A-and that there was a powerful Hyper Beam from Rebecca's Tyranitar…" the announcer stammered. "Which appears to have knocked Sid's Blastoise unconscious…"

"What?" the boy, Sid, shouted and jumped around like a monkey. "Come on, Becky! Take it easy, aren't I your friend?"

Rebecca laughed slightly. "My laptop is my friend too but you don't see me going easy on it either, do you?"

"…That girl scares me," Emerald muttered and shook his head, turning back to Raven. "Anyways, how the heck did you get the Pokémon you have? Your Piplup, Cherrim, and Gallade are all from the Sinnoh region, aren't they?"

"Yeah… kind of…" Raven answered. "Well, I got Piplup from Professor Birch, I got Cherrim from the nurse in Oldale Town, and I got Guru-n as a Ralts but he ended up evolving into a Gallade when he got near Steven…"

"Steven? You mean Steven Stone?"

"Yes."

"Lies! There's no way that you could've met him!"

"But alas, I did."

"Will you two quit it?" Brendan snapped. "Arceus, you both sound like little kids… And look like little kids."

"Hey!"

Another loud blast occurred, accompanied by more ground shaking. The announcer could be heard screaming bloody murder and, when the dust cleared away from the screen, Sid's second Pokémon, a Poliwhirl, was unconscious.

"A-and… that appears to be the end of our battle! Rebecca is our winner!"

"Holy Shiftry, that was fast…" Brendan muttered. "I hope I don't have to battle her…"

"We'll take a short, 10-minute break before we proceed to our next battle, which will be Raven versus Julie!"

Brendan sighed and began leaving the waiting room, heading over to one of the nurses to heal Swampert and Grovyle. Raven and Emerald followed him, with the two insulting each other yet again.

"Anyways, Raven…" Brendan said, interrupting the two's fight. "Which Pokémon are you going to use?"

"Oh… Probably Piplup and Guru-n…"

"Well…" Brendan sighed and put his hand on Raven's head. "Good luck… munchkin."

"Thanks," Raven said happily. "…Wait, I'm not a munchkin! Take it back, you jerk! Take it back, take it back!" she shouted and began smacking his back. "Take it backkkkkk!"

Brendan and Emerald both laughed hysterically.


	67. Chapter Sixty Six

Author's Notes: Bleh, more battles... With impossible outcomes. Ohoho.~

* * *

Chapter Sixty Six

"Our break is now over and so, the next battle will begin! Julie and Raven, please come out to the battlefield!"

Raven began biting her lip as she began walking out to the field alongside a green-haired girl who was talking far too fast for her to understand. The two took their places on the field and waited for the announcer to tell them when to start.

"All right! This is our final match of the first round!… Wait, what, these are called rounds, right? What, I can't hear you!… Oh, never mind! Let the match between Julie and Raven start!"

The two girls both sent out their Pokémon, Julie sending out a shrew-like Pokémon and Raven sending out Piplup.

"Sandslash, use Slash!"

"Piplup, Whirlpool!"

Sandslash began dashing towards Piplup, who had begun creating a whirlpool. Piplup quickly tossed the whirlpool at Sandslash, but Sandslash simply ran through the whirlpool, reaching Piplup and striking him with its claw.

"Piplup, use Pound! And then use Drill Peck!"

Piplup smacked Sandslash on its head before jumping back and spinning around quickly. He then jumped towards Sandslash while somehow managing to continue spinning. Piplup struck Sandslash in the side, sending Sandslash spinning backwards towards Julie.

Julie pointed down at the ground. "Sandslash, use Dig!"

"Piplup, you use Dig too!"

Back in the waiting room, Brendan smacked himself. "And… what was the point of that?"

Both Pokémon began digging underground and, within a couple of seconds, both were completely underground.

"And…" the announcer began and looked at the two holes made by the Pokémon. "It seems that both Sandslash and Piplup have gone underground! Could we be getting ready to have a possible underground match?… The cameras unfortunately can't get down there, so no."

Everyone became silent as they waited to see what would happen with the two. And, for a while, nothing seemed to happen.

"…Um, are they okay down there or-" the announcer began but stopped as she looked down at the field. Right up by one of the field's walls, the one that lead up to where she stood with the audience, was a low rumbling noise. The ground suddenly burst and both Piplup and Sandslash came out of the ground, running up the wall alongside each other.

The announcer let out a shriek as the two got up closer to the audience and her. However, the two both pushed off the wall at the last moment, landing back on the field and continuing to strike one another.

"W-whoa! Both Pokémon have suddenly remerged from underground! Now they're continuously, and simultaneously, dealing blows to one another! Who would've thought a Piplup could hold its own in battle…"

Julie nodded quickly. "The announcer lady's right! Your Piplup is pretty good, kid!"

Piplup pushed himself away from Sandslash and pounded on his chest. "Damn right I am! I'm a battle scarred Pokémon, having traveled around the world and fought many others…"

"No, that was a total lie," Raven added. "Anyways… Piplup, Whirlpool!"

Piplup let out a sigh before beginning to spin around and make a whirlpool. In a quick moment, he had created a large whirlpool and threw it at Sandslash. Sandslash evaded it the same way it did last time; dashing right through it.

However, this time when it emerged on the other side of the whirlpool, Piplup was no longer there. Instead, a hole was where Piplup formerly was. Sandslash's eyes grew larger as it realized what had happened.

The ground right under Sandslash caved in, and Piplup popped up out of the group, spinning around striking Sandslash with his beak.

"Ooh! A surprise attack from Piplup, involving a Dig + Drill Peck combo! Impressive!"

Sandslash stumbled background and quickly held the spot Piplup had hit. Once it looked up, it saw that Piplup had made another whirlpool and was already tossing it in its direction.

"Oh no!" Julie shouted. "Sandslash, quick! Try to evade it!"

Sandslash didn't seem to hear Julie's order and instead braced itself as the force of Piplup's whirlpool lifted it from the ground and sent it spinning around inside of it. Eventually Sandslash soared out of the top of the whirlpool and flew across the field. People in the audience quickly began moving away once they realized that Sandslash was going to land in the stands, although some people decided to try and catch Sandslash instead.

"Oops, sorry!" Piplup shouted sheepishly.

The announcer looked over at the area where Sandslash fell. "Hey, is that Pokémon all right…? Uh, for those of you that missed it, Raven's Piplup just managed to catch Julie's Sandslash in a whirlpool and sent it flying into the air!"

Eventually a group of people came carrying Sandslash out of the crowd. Sandslash had its eyes shut and looked rather beat up.

"It looks like Sandslash is unable to battle! Julie, please send out your next Pokémon."

Julie let out a sigh as she watched the people carrying Sandslash. Someone shouted that they'd take Sandslash to the Pokémon Center area and she nodded.

"Okay… Go, Ninetales!"

Julie threw her Poké Ball in the air, letting out a light yellow fox Pokémon with, predictably, nine tails. Raven seemed to think for a moment before taking out another Poké Ball.

"Piplup, you've done enough! Return!" Raven shouted and returned Piplup to his Poké Ball. And with that, she tossed her other Poké Ball. "Go, Guru-n!"

As the timid Gallade came out of his Poké Ball, he looked around quickly and looked back at Raven.

"Please don't make me do this!"

Raven let out a sigh as Guru-n ran over to her and grabbed her legs, weeping pathetically. "Guru-n, is this going to happen ever time I send you out to battle!"

"N-no, but I'm at a type disadvantage!"

"No, you're not."

"I know that!"

"Let go of me and stop acting like a baby!"

Guru-n suddenly stood up and turned back towards Julie and Ninetales. "Very well. I shall battle!"

"…That was a quick decision."

Guru-n looked up at the ceiling sadly. "Yes, it was. However, I've come to realize that sensei must love me very much to allow me to participate in such a battle."

Raven looked at him oddly. "Right…"

Julie pointed at Guru-n. "That was kinda funny! Anyways, Ninetales! Use Flamethrower!"

Ninetales gave a quick nod and opened up its mouth, letting out a blast of fire.

"Guru-n, use Protect!"

Guru-n quickly crossed his arms in front of himself as a light blue light began surrounding him. The fire struck the light, merely running into it and getting nowhere.

"Guru-n, quickly! Use Psycho Cut!"

Guru-n nodded and the shield faded away while the flames were still slamming into it. He quickly jumped out of the way of the incoming flames before running towards Ninetales.

"Ninetales, Fire Blast!"

Ninetales sent out more fire, although this time it circled around Guru-n and closed around him, burning him and stopping him from moving.

"Oh! Crap!" Raven muttered and began tapping the side of her head. "Oh, what should I do? What, what, what…?"

All of a sudden, she snapped her fingers and loudly shouted, "That's it!"

She took out Guru-n's Poké Ball and returned him to it. She then sent Guru-n back out again.

"Ooh!" the announcer shouted, nearly falling over the railing and on the field, only being held back by her cameraman, who was trying to balance the camera and grab the announcer at the same time. "A smart use of her Pokémon's Poké Ball! Gallade was previously trapped by Ninetales' Fire Blast but his trainer returned him to his Poké Ball and sent him back out, releasing him from the flames!"

"'Kay, Guru-n! Try Psycho Cut once more!"

Guru-n nodded and began heading towards Ninetales once again.

"Ninetales, change of plans! Protect yourself with flames!"

The tips of Ninetales' tails all began having small flames appear on them. The flames grew to surround Ninetales, making some sort of shield with an opening only where Ninetales' face was.

"Guru-n, try to break through the shield! Use Protect!"

Guru-n made a confused face as he put up his own shield and trying to get close to Ninetales. The two shields tried to repel one another, but Ninetales' flame shield appeared to be stronger as Guru-n's shield suddenly faded away.

"What the-?" Guru-n began but turned back around as he saw Ninetales trying to bite him. He jumped farther away from it and frowned, looking back at Raven. "What should I do?"

"Uh… I dunno."

Julie laughed slightly. "If you won't attack… I will! Ninetales, Fire Blast!"

The same attack that trapped Guru-n before lunged towards him with surprising speed. "Sensei, what should I-"

Raven's eyes widened as the fire surrounded Guru-n and trapped him. "Guru-n!… Ohhh, what should I do?" She then crouched down to the ground and began tugging at her hair, muttering quietly to herself.

Back in the waiting room, Emerald was angrily shouting odd things at the television there. "You idiot! Think of something! Do something! Tell him to protect himself! You stupid idiot!"

"Good thing she can't hear you," Brendan muttered, looking at the T.V. and at the panicking Raven. "…Yeah, she is an idiot. Not the best time to have a mental breakdown, Raven."

All of a sudden, Raven stood back up, raising her hands up in the air. "That's IT! Guru-n, Teleport!"

"W-what?"

"Teleport! You're psychic, so you should be able to teleport!"

Everyone in the waiting room looked at the screen in disbelief.

"I don't get her logic at all," Emerald muttered.

"Yeah, neither does anyone else…" Brendan said and shook his head. "Although, I guess she's right… Most psychic Pokémon _can_ teleport…"

However, Guru-n only seemed to be continuing to endure the fire attack.

"GURU-N!"

All of a sudden, Guru-n disappeared from the flames. In a quick moment, he reappeared only a few feet away from Raven.

"H-huh?" Raven began and suddenly screamed. "When did-? How did-? Why did-?"

Guru-n seemed equally surprised. "I-I did it! I teleported!"

And so the two began joyfully skipping around, pretty much forgetting that they were in the middle of a battle.

Emerald and Brendan looked at the screen in the waiting room in disbelief. "He actually… teleported."

"It's interesting indeed…"

The two both looked behind each other and screamed as they saw Rebecca standing right behind them, her laptop whipped out and she looking at it.

"According to what I just looked up about Raven and her Pokémon, Guru-n's moves did _not_ include Teleport at the time she registered…" Rebecca mumbled. "Which would mean that that Gallade just learned the move because the situation called for it."

"What? Can you seriously look up that kind of stuff?" Emerald shouted.

"Hey, shouldn't you be more shocked about-…" Brendan began but shook his head. "Never mind."

Julie and her Ninetales simply looked at Raven and Guru-n in shock. "Huh? But he said… But you said… How did…"

Ninetales snarled before it began blasting more fire at Guru-n. The two stopped jumping around as they noticed it and, quickly, Guru-n put his arm around Raven and they teleported away from the flames.

The announcer snapped out of her own bewilderment and continued… well, announcing. "It appears as though Raven's Gallade is capable of teleporting and has just done so to escape from Ninetales' Fire Blast! Ninetales sent another attack out but Gallade teleporting once again, also moving his trainer away from the flames!"

"All right…" Raven said and made a fist. "Guru-n! Let's do this!"

"Right away, sensei!"

Julie looked down at Ninetales. "Ninetales, we can do it! Just protect yourself from the flames and you'll be fine!"

Ninetales nodded and did so, this time covering all of its body with the shield.

"Well, Guru-n… Now that you can teleport…"

Guru-n looked at his trainer in horror. "What? I don't know what you're thinking, but I know it's bad!"

Raven grinned at him in a creepy manner. "You're right! It _is_ bad!"

Guru-n looked back at Ninetales, completely shielded by fire and not seeming to be attacking anytime soon. "…Fine. What is it?"

"Such a good boy!~" Raven said, patting his head (and having to stand on tip-toe to do so.) She then pointed at Ninetales. "Teleport- to the inside of the shield!"

Guru-n took in a deep breath and nodded. "…Right!"

"What?" Julie shouted. "He won't be able to do that! It's impossible for someone to get _inside_ the shield!"

"Oh yeah?" Guru-n asked and shut his eyes. "Just watch me!"

And like that, Guru-n teleported.

"It appears as though Gallade has, once again, teleported!" the announcer shouted. "His trainer's plan is to get inside Ninetales' fire shield but… will such a thing even work?"

All of a sudden, Ninetales' shield exploded. Everyone quickly covered their faces as flames burst into the air.

Once enough of the flames disappeared to see the field, everyone saw that Guru-n had indeed managed to teleport into Ninetales' shield. He had a hand against Ninetales' chest, and Ninetales' looked rather shocked at what had happened.

Guru-n, covered with burns from head to toe, looked down at Ninetales and said, "Sorry 'bout that."

He then lifted his hand from Ninetales, who toppled over and collapsed on the ground.

"Is… Is Ninetales out…? W-well then, the winner is Raven! Congratulations!"

Raven looked extremely happy as she ran over to Guru-n, jumping on him and hugging him tightly. "Guru-n! You did it! We won!"

"Y-yeah, we did…" Guru-n said, wincing slightly. "But could you be a little more gentle? These burns hurt…"

"Oh, right! Sorry!"

Julie returned Ninetales and nodded slightly. "Guess I should've saw that coming. Even if Ninetales had beaten Gallade, could it handle a water type Pokémon…?"

"Julie, Julie!"

Julie looked up to where Raven had run over to her. Raven got ready to say something but all that came out were excited squeaking noises.

"It was fun, wasn't it?" Julie asked, smiling.

Raven nodded, letting out a loud squeak.

"And so, that brings a close to our first round! It appears as though we still have plenty of times for more battles, however! We'll have an hour break before starting the battles again! The match-ups have been updated to show who'll be battling who next, so feel free to take a look at those by checking the computers and televisions! Our next battle will be Emerald versus Vito, which once again will be starting in an hour!"


	68. Chapter Sixty Seven

Author's Notes: My favorite character is the Birchmobile. :D

* * *

Chapter Sixty Seven

As Raven handed Guru-n and Piplup's Poké Balls to the nurse, she heard the noise of people running up behind her. Turning around, she saw Pearl, Yellow, Nami, Harley, and Wally were there, all of them looking ecstatic.

Yellow grabbed her hands happily. "Raven, you won! I can't believe that Guru-n could teleport! And it was so cool, like that part where he teleported into Ninetales' shield! And Piplup's battle was awesome too! I mean, I'm not really too much into battling since I-"

Harley quickly removed Yellow's hands from Raven's, pushed Yellow out of the way, and grabbed Raven's hands himself.

"Raven-chan, you were sooo amazing! I wouldn't be surprised if a million more people suddenly joined your fan club because of that battle!" he said.

"Um, yeah, thanks…" Raven mumbled, trying to pull her hands away from him. And failed.

"And so, I just got a call from my dad!" Pearl said happily. "He said that he, as well as your mom and dad and a few others, are almost here at Evergrande! He also said that they're broadcasting the battles on T.V. everywhere and that they just watched yours."

"Oh, really?" Raven mumbled. "Did they want to meet up with us somewhere or something…?"

Pearl nodded. "Yep! He told us to just wait on the beach for them!"

Brendan and Emerald finally came over to them, Emerald shouting at him about something. "I told you, I'm not painting my nails emerald green!"

Everyone else (except Harley, who oddly seemed excited about the statement,) looked at them oddly. Pearl scratched the side of her head and said, "Do I even want to know what you guys are talking about…?"

Brendan shook his head. "I've been listening to him for only five minutes and I don't understand anything he's saying. But hey, Emerald, if you want to paint your nails, go right ahead. Harley looks like he's willing to do them for you."

Emerald shook his head. "No, no, no! I don't want to paint them at all! And hell no, I'd never let Harley paint them!"

Harley frowned. "You don't want them bedazzled?"

All of a sudden, Raven walked away from them and outside. "Okay, this conversation is getting _way_ to weird, even for me."

"Got that right…" Brendan mumbled.

It was a bit chilly outside as the group waited on the stairs to the beach for Professor Birch to arrive. The five girls who were apart of the band performing for the Pokémon League were standing with them, talking to them.

"So, what's your dad look like?" one of them, the girl named Mio, asked.

"He looks like…" Pearl began but shook her head. "Too hard to describe him. But we won't be able to miss sight of him at all. He sticks out like a sore thumb."

Mio got ready to say something else when she suddenly stopped and looked up. "…Did anyone here that?"

"Hear what?" Pearl asked but then heard exactly what Mio was talking about: the sound of a car driving, the screams of people, and the sight of sand flying everywhere on the beach.

Pearl put her head on her hands. "…Oh no…"

A jeep was speeding down the beach, kicking up sand left and right. There were many people in the jeep, although there weren't enough seats for all of them, but they were all clinging to one another for their lives.

The jeep skidded to a stop in front of the group, covering them in sand as it did so. The man driving it whipped off his sunglasses and pointed at them all.

"What's up?"

One of the people fell out of the jeep, rolling around in the sand. "My stomach…"

"Oh, that's…" Raven began and pointed at the person rolling in the sand. "…One of those Pokémon Ranger people whose names I don't remember."

All of a sudden, the person on the ground jumped up, seemingly recovered from his stomach pain. "How can't you remember? I'm Hajime!"

"…Riiiiiight…"

Pearl stood up quickly. "Dad! _Why_ did you bring your car?"

Professor Birch made a face that was probably supposed to be a pout. "Because I want the whole world to know of the existence of the totally awesome Birchmobile."

"But look!" Pearl shouted and pointed at all the people in the car. "You killed all of them! And isn't it illegal to have more people than there are seats in a car?"

"Probably."

One person, however, seemed to have been completely immune to Professor Birch's driving skills. He raised his hand in the air, shouting, "I find absolutely nothing wrong with your father's driving skills! He is an excellent driver!"

Raven pointed at him. "I know who you are! You're… Lunick!"

Hajime let out a scream. "Why do you remember his name but not mine?"

"I guess his personality left more of an impression than your's did."

Lunick laughed hysterically as he jumped out of the jeep, everyone else in it slowly getting out as well. "That's right, I left more of an impression on her than you did… It must have been my good looks, right, Raven?"

Raven shook her head. "No. You aren't good looking at all."

Lunick suddenly grabbed his chest and fell to the ground. "Ah, that comment kind of hurt…"

Raven took a look at the rest of the horde of people Professor Birch brought along. There was her mother, her father, Solana, Hitomi, another girl with pigtails, a boy with a straw hat, and another girl wearing green.

"Oh, I remember you guys!" Raven said happily. "You're Alanna, that one girl we met when I caught Magnemite. Kazuki, the bug obsessed kid from Petalburg Woods, and Megan, who was also there with Kazuki!"

"You know, I can't understand why you can remember all of those people but not me," Hajime whined.

Raven rolled her eyes. "Um, sorry, I guess…?"

And then, none of them said anything. One of those moments where no one could think of something weird to say. Which happened far too often.

"So," Professor Birch began slowly. "Isn't the Birchmobile the greatest thing in the world?"

"I'm just wondering how the heck you got it here…" Pearl mumbled.

It was almost time for the battles to start again, and so far only Brendan and Emerald were in the waiting room.

"Everyone seems to be taking their time getting here…" Emerald muttered.

Just as he said that, Raven ran into the room, stopping quickly to catch her breath.

Emerald and Brendan simply began staring at her; or rather, at her change of outfit, which highly resembled something a samba dancer would wear.

"Okay, so who did you steal that from?" Brendan asked.

"Haha! I didn't steal it from anyone!" Raven said proudly.

"…Do you want us to praise you for that?"

"Hush! I'll have you know that wearing this silly costume does come with some good points!"

Emerald and Brendan both looked at each other in exasperation before looking at Raven. "Such as…?"

Raven quickly whipped out two tickets, skipping around excitedly. "Look! Two front row seats to the Ho-kago Tea Time concert on the final day of the Pokémon League competition!"

Brendan gave her an odd look, slowly saying, "That's nice and all but… You do know that the top 16 competitors automatically get front row seats, right?"

Raven suddenly look rather pale. "…Wait… so you mean I was duped?"

"Um… yeah, pretty much."

Emerald had begun laughing hysterically while Raven frowned and quickly spun around, walking away quickly.

"Where're you going?"

"To change out of this stupid thing…" Raven muttered and looked back over her shoulder. "Oh yeah. If you see Butler, tell him that I'm going to have him die a slow and painful death."

Brendan nodded slowly. "I see… Right now, I'm wondering where the heck he would've got a costume like that in the first place."

However, Raven was already long gone, and Emerald was now on the floor laughing.


	69. Chapter Sixty Eight

Author's Notes: I'm such a lazy person that I had Raven sleep through everyone's battles so I wouldn't have to write it. |D I am _so _proud of myself.

* * *

Chapter Sixty Eight

By the time Raven reached the spectator's area, Emerald's battle had already begun; both he and Vito already had one Pokémon fainted and people in the audience for cheering for whoever they wanted to win.

Pearl, watching the battle with more intensity that the announcer, looked away and at Raven. "Oh. When did you get here?… Rather, why are you here?"

"Long story short, I was tricked into wearing a weird costume and got two front row tickets for the concert. So, Yellow and Pearl, I bestow you with these small pieces of paper." At that, Raven got down on one knee and held the tickets out to Pearl and Yellow, who was sitting right next to her.

Pearl stared at Raven, who was still wearing the pink and green outfit. "…I'm surprised you haven't burst into flames from wearing the color pink. Also, I don't think anyone uses the word 'bestow' anymore."

"Whatever! Take the tickets! Do it now!"

"…Okay…" Pearl mumbled as she and Yellow each took a ticket. Raven then got up and sat down next to Pearl, watching the battle.

Pearl's eyes narrowed. "…Why are you sitting up here with us?"

"What? Am I not allowed to?"

"You can, it's just… I figured you'd rather be down in the waiting room…"

"Why? My battle is the final one, so I don't need to worry about being there."

At that, Raven felt someone tap on her shoulder. She looked up to see a boy around Pearl's age sitting behind them. Raven felt like she'd seen him somewhere before but merely ignored her own thoughts. "What?"

"You're the kid who's battling Becky later on, right?"

"Who's Becky?"

"Rebecca."

Raven nodded quickly. Pearl had also turned around to listen, as did Yellow.

"I hate to say this, but you're not gonna be able to win against her."

"Wha-? Why are you saying that?" Raven asked, horror on her face.

"It's just… Rebecca uses Metagross and Tyranitar. Which Pokémon are you using?"

"Piplup and Gallade."

The boy sighed and shook his head. "See? You won't stand a chance against her. It's probably better to give up before your Pokémon get hurt."

Raven frowned. "And how do you know that I'll lose?"

"Because my Pokémon just got their asses kicked by her Pokémon."

And then, Raven suddenly remembered where she'd seen him. "Oh, you're the weird guy who was hitting on Nami and begging Rebecca to take it easy on you because you're a friend!"

"Hey, hey, I wasn't begging!" he protested but sighed. "Anyways, I just thought I'd give you a fair warning…"

Raven seemed to think for a moment. "Give up, huh? Maybe I should…"

With that, they all continued watching the battle. Emerald's Sceptile slammed its tail into Vito's Kadabra, crashing into the ground.

"…Is that it? I think it is! Vito's Kadabra is unconscious, making Emerald the winner! Congratulations, Emerald! You'll be battling the Elite Four!"

Emerald faced the crowd, giving them a quick wave, before returning his Pokémon and hurrying past a disappointed Vito back into the waiting room.

"Let's proceed to our next battle! Diane and Nami, please come on out!"

Raven suddenly jumped out of her seat and spun around, pointing at the boy. "I've made my decision!"

"About what?"

"Giving up or not!"

Pearl smacked her forehead. "You've been sitting there seriously thinking about that?"

Raven nodded. "Anyways! I won't give up! There's no point in giving up before you try! Besides, I've gotten this far already, so I'd be crazy to give up!"

All of a sudden, someone else stood up from their own seat in the row in front of them. "Well spoken, Raven!"

"Professor Birch! I knew you'd understand me better than anyone!"

"That's right!" Professor Birch shouted. "Now-! Let us share a man-hug!"

Sure enough, the two embraced each other, crying dramatically and making everyone sitting around them look at them as if they were crazy. Oh, wait a sec… They were.

"Birch, you bastard…" Norman, who'd been sitting next to him, mumbled and stood up as well. "No one gets to share a man-hug with my daughter except for me!"

For whatever reason, Norman and Professor Birch began hugging instead, crying dramatically.

"This is kind of awkward…" Yellow mumbled, trying to ignore the two bawling men.

"Kind of awkward? It's much more than that…" Pearl mumbled back.

Raven had sat back down and leaned over to lay on Pearl's lap, closing her eyes.

"And what are you doing?" Pearl asked, clearly becoming more irritated by the second.

"Hush, I'm going to sleep for a bit," Raven whispered, which could barely be heard over Norman and Birch's sobs of manliness.

"I-" Pearl began but let out a shaky sigh. "Go ahead, I don't even care anymore. After all, I only have two grown men crying like babies in front of me."

However, Raven was already fast asleep. And for some reason, Yellow had also leaned on Pearl and was fast asleep.

"Raven-chan. Raven-chan, wake up…"

Raven slowly opened her eyes, grumbling to herself as she looked up, expecting to see Pearl's face.

Unfortunately, she was greeted with the sight of Harley's face instead.

She opened her mouth to scream but Harley merely covered her mouth with his hand before she could start. "Hush, hush, you don't to disturb the others, do you?"

Raven smacked his hand and jolted upright, looking around quickly. She saw other people sitting around them and realized that she was in the spectator area. She let out a sigh and looked out at the field; Brendan and Butler were battling.

"What? They're already battling? Did they just start?"

Harley shook his head. "Nope. I think they're almost finished."

"WHAT? Why didn't someone wake me up?"

"Sorry," Pearl said, sitting next to Harley. "You didn't ask."

"Awww," Raven whined and looked back at the field. Then her head whipped around to look at Pearl. "Wait a sec-… Why was I sleeping on Harley's lap? I fell asleep on your's!"

"Well, your giant head was making my legs fall asleep and Harley really wanted to have you sleep on him. So I was like, 'Oh, hey, sure, go ahead.'"

Raven began pouting before her mood rapidly changed again. "Ah! Did Nami win her battle?"

Harley nodded happily. "Little Nami-chan did win! She dedicated the battle to you, you know! And she won it so elegantly, it was almost like I was-"

"I don't care."

Meanwhile, back down where Butler and Brendan were battling, Butler's dragon-like Pokémon fired a beam at Brendan's Swampert. Swampert stumbled out of the way, the beam slamming into the wall and send chunks of it flying.

"Okay, Swampert! While Salamence is recharging - use Ice Beam!"

Swampert quickly saluted and opened his mouth, taking in a deep breath before firing out a light blue beam at the other Pokémon. The beam quickly began freezing over the dragon, to the point where it couldn't move around.

"Let's finish this! Swampert, use Iron Tail!"

Swampert began running towards Salamence before skidding to a stop and striking Salamence with his tail. The ice easily broke, the sharp pieces cutting both Salamence and Swampert's tail as he collided with it.

Salamence tumbled over, shutting its eyes in pain as it lost consciousness.

"And that settles it! The winner of this battle is Brendan! So far, our Elite Four competitors consist of Emerald, Nami, and Brendan, giving us a record for the youngest Elite Four competitors at a single time! Anyways, our next battle will be with Rebecca vs. Raven! Trainers, please come out to the field!"

Raven jumped up in horror. "Oh crap! I've got to hurry! I never got to take off this stupid costume-… Huh?" She quickly looked down at herself to see that she was no longer wearing her previous outfit but rather wearing a black, Chinese-styled outfit.

"Oh, yes, we changed you while you were asleep. Emerald told us that you had wanted to change out of it…" Harley explained. "You're a very heavy sleeper!"

"S-shut up!" Raven snapped and quickly ran out of the room. She made a beeline towards the stairs, hurrying down them as fast as she could, though not without tripping multiple times.

The announcer's voice came out over the speaker. "Raven, please come to the battling field. I repeat, Raven, please come to the battling field…"

Raven soon reached the first floor, running quickly to the waiting room. There, she was greeted by the others, although she quickly moved around them. She quickly checked at her waist for her Pokémon, who were both there, and ran out onto the field, out of breath.

"Annnd, there she is! Competitor Raven has made it to the field!"

Raven took one final breath and stood up, looking across the field at Rebecca, who was pushing her glasses up her face and holding her laptop with her other arm.

"Nice to see you finally came," she said calmly and slightly smiled. "I'll take it that you and your Pokémon won't be holding back?"

"Of course!" Raven said and nodded quickly. "Likewise, you don't hold back either!"

Rebecca nodded. "Of course, I'd never do that."

The announcer shouted, "Our final battle to determine the final competitor of the Pokémon League! Rebecca vs. Raven… START!"


	70. Chapter Sixty Nine

Author's Notes: This chapter features a failed attempt to make something serious.

* * *

Chapter Sixty Nine

"Our final battle to determine the final competitor of the Pokémon League! Rebecca vs. Raven… START!"

Raven and Rebecca both tossed their Poké Balls at the same time, letting out their Pokémon; Piplup and Metagross.

Nearly everyone in the crowd became rather amused by the match up; it was already painfully obvious who was going to win.

Piplup let out a sigh. "…Raven?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you _trying _to kill me?"

"Kind of, yes."

Rebecca fixed her glasses once again, looking at Raven with a blank look. "Go ahead. You have the first attack."

"Right then… Piplup, Whirlpool!"

"Metagross, Meteor Mash!"

Piplup began spinning around quickly to create the whirlpool and tossed it at Metagross. Suddenly, a blast of air broke through the whirlpool and slammed into Piplup, sending him flying back into the wall.

"Are you freaking kidding me?" Raven shouted and ran over to where Piplup lay. "Piplup, you okay? Piplup?"

The announcer looked shocked as she took a look at the unmoving Piplup. "A-and it looks like Piplup has fainted! Raven, please send out your next Pokémon!"

"You've got to be kidding me…" Raven whined as she returned Piplup to his Poké Ball. "That was fast… Okay then! Guru-n, it's your turn now!"

At that, she tossed her second Poké Ball in the air, the ball opening up and letting out her next Pokémon.

"Anddd, Cherrim is here to save the day!"

The entire stadium became eerily quiet as, instead of Guru-n coming out, Cherrim had popped out of the Poké Ball instead.

"…Cherrim. Why the hell are you out here?"

Cherrim turned around to look at her, tilting his head to the side. "'Cause I wanted to help you, that's why! Aren't I great?"

Raven looked at the announcer in horror. "…I'm sorry, there's a bit of a mistake here. Can I switch my Pokémon please?"

The announcer slowly shook her head. "Once you send out a Pokémon, you can't switch it out even if you make a mistake…"

Raven's gaze lowered to the ground and then, slowly, over to Cherrim. "…Well, Cherrim? Should we just give up now?"

Cherrim shook his head. "No! I wanna fight! Come on, let's do this!"

"Alright then… Cherrim, Solarbeam!"

"And again, Meteor Mash, Metagross."

Almost exactly like what had happened with Piplup, Cherrim fired his attack, only to have it destroyed and then struck by Metagross's Meteor Mash. Cherrim was also flung back into the wall, and once again Raven rushed over to see if Cherrim was okay.

"Cherrim! Please tell me you're okay…!" she said and reached inside the rather deep hole in the wall. She suddenly pulled her hand back and jumped away from it, beginning to look at where Cherrim was with a different expression.

"C-Cherrim…?"

Cherrim finally managed to push himself out of the hole, landing on the ground and trying to push himself up.

"Annddd, it looks like Cherrim is still able to fight! Amazing that it managed to withstand a blow like that…" The announcer paused for a moment, watching Cherrim. "…Is Cherrim all right? It looks a bit shaken up by that attack!"

Cherrim stumbled around, looking at the crowd of people, at Raven, at Rebecca and her Metagross, all with a look of fear on his face.

"You're okay… That's good," Raven said, sighing in relief. "I was really worried about you, you know?… Cherrim?"

Cherrim didn't seem to be listening to her at all. Raven took a step closer to him and he suddenly jumped back, the petal on his forehead glowing white. Suddenly, Cherrim fired another Solarbeam; this time, however, it was aimed at Raven.

The beam missed her by only a bit, yet Raven still fell to the ground, covering her head. She quickly looked up at Cherrim, still covering her head. "C-Cherrim! What was that for?"

"Just stay away from me!"

The crowd began talking among one another, mostly because of Cherrim's sudden outburst. Rebecca did her usual habit of pushing her glasses up her nose, but said nothing as usual. The announcer, however, began talking a mile a minute.

"And it looks like Raven's Cherrim has suddenly attacked her? What could have possibly provoked this? Cherrim looks a bit afraid… Will these two be able to continue the battle, or will Raven forfeit? What will happen?"

Raven attempted to ignore the announcer and the crowd, looking at Cherrim in confusion. "What's wrong? Why are you acting like this all of a sudden?"

"Because you're just like the rest of them, that's why!" Cherrim snapped, his look of fear quickly changing to anger. "It's just a test, isn't it? You want to see how well I'll do against a larger Pokémon, while the rest of you just sit in your seats and comment on how I react to different situations! That's it, isn't it?"

"W-what…?"

Cherrim continued his shouting, "You take me from my home, you stick me with all your needles, trying to get me to react in a way that you want! I hope you're happy now; just take a nice, long look at me! I'm one of those experiments that didn't die, that worked out just the way you wanted it to!

"And here I was, thinking that you were the nicest one out of all of those sick freaks! But oh was I wrong! You're the sickest of them all! I… I…"

The crowd was now completely silent, listening to Cherrim shouting at Raven and all of them wondering what in the world was going on.

"I hate you!"

Cherrim's petal glowed once again as he shot yet another Solarbeam; this one hitting its target directly. Raven fell backwards, burns covering her skin and pieces of her clothes burnt.

"H-hey now!" the announcer shouted, leaning over the wall to look down at them. "What's going on, don't attack your trainer now!"

Cherrim glared at her, the petal glowing once again. Rebecca quickly shouted at the announcer, "Get back!" and then motioned towards her Metagross. Metagross extended an arm in the direction Cherrim was facing as he fired the beam, the beam slamming into its arm but luckily not reaching the crowd.

Cherrim then looked at Metagross and made a noise, looking away from it and back at Raven. "What're you just sitting there for? Get back up, like you always tell me to do!"

Back up in the audience, Pearl was just as confused as everyone else. "What's Cherrim talking about? Why the heck is he getting so angry? Why is he attacking Raven!"

"…Raven's not a secret scientist, is she?" Professor Birch exclaimed and Pearl smacked the back of his head.

"No, she's not! Dad, you're a professor, maybe you might know… What the heck's going on?" Pearl asked.

Professor Birch rubbed the back of his head. "I honestly don't know… Maybe Cherrim is just getting stressed out? I mean, he's competing in the Pokémon League; anyone would be stressed over that."

"…That's not much of a help," Pearl mumbled.

"Raven, I'm getting a message from the Pokémon League officials…" the announcer said. "They said that you need to get control over your Pokémon or you're going to be disqualified…"

"WHAT?" Pearl screamed and jumped up from her seat. Someone grabbed her sleeve and pulled her back down; Pearl looked to see that it was Brendan. "Bren, what're you doing up here?"

"The rest of us wanted to see the battle from up here," he explained. "But stop shouting. Rules are rules. If she can't get Cherrim under control, she'll have to quit."

Pearl let out a sigh. "But it's just so unfair! She never even stood a chance against Rebecca… And Cherrim isn't even supposed to be battling, Guru-n is…"

Meanwhile, down at the battle field, Raven was continuously shaking her head. "Cherrim… I… don't know what you're talking about. I mean… If you hate me, that's perfectly fine but…"

Several thoughts began entering Raven's head. That's right… Cherrim was a Pokémon test subject. That was why he was always in his sunshine form… But he'd never mentioned any of it before, never seemed to even remember it. Was it because they were at the Pokémon League? Was that why he was acting like this? Was it like this when people did tests on him…?

Raven looked up, seeing that Cherrim was shaking his head, all five of his petals glowing white. Everyone in the crowd began panicking, most of them either fearing that they themselves would get hurt or that they would witness the death of a trainer attacked by their own Pokémon.

Raven gulped, shutting her eyes. She'd have to forfeit the match, after all of this. The rest of her Pokémon would be disappointed, as well as her friends… Her father, who'd always dreamed of his daughter becoming a great trainer, would only see her as someone who had to forfeit because they couldn't get their Pokémon to listen to them… "I-I…"

"I forfeit."

Cherrim suddenly stopped, his petals no longer white. He blinked once and looked to his right, where Rebecca and Metagross were. Raven had also looked up and looked at them as well.

The announcer was shocked. "W-what? Challenger Raven didn't say that… Rather, challenger Rebecca did? Why?"

Rebecca sighed and shook her head. "It was an unfair advantage. With the Pokémon I chose for this year's competition, no one would've been able to stand a chance. And besides," she said and looked over at Raven, and then up at the audience where Brendan, Emerald, and Nami were.

"I think it's be pretty interesting to see how far the four of you get in the Elite Four challenge."

The announcer recovered from her temporary shock, shouting, "And there we have it, folks! With Rebecca's sudden forfeit, Raven proceeds to be in the top 4 of the Pokémon League challenge, and thus will be competing against the Elite Four! Congratulations!"

"…What?" Raven murmured and looked around as the audience began clapping and cheering. "No, wait… It's not…"

Raven pushed herself up off the ground and ran out of the stadium, leaving a still shocked Cherrim behind. Metagross looked back at its trainer, who merely shrugged.


	71. Chapter Seventy

Author's Notes: We're almost done!... Almost...

* * *

Chapter Seventy

"So, have any of you spotted the crybaby yet?" Brendan asked, looking at Pearl, Yellow, Emerald, and, for some reason, Flannery.

Flannery shook her head. "No, none of us have seen her."

"Figures… I don't understand why the Pokémon League officials want to see her…" Brendan mumbled.

After Rebecca had forfeited and Raven ran out of the stadium, Cherrim had been taken to the doctor's area of the building, whereas they began to wonder several things about Cherrim that they wanted to be answered by the trainer.

The trainer who no one could currently find.

"Would Pearl Birch please come to the main desk?" someone said over the intercom.

Emerald frowned for a moment before suddenly shouting, "AHA!" Everyone else looked at him as he quickly became aware that he had shouted loudly like so.

"Sorry, I just got an idea!" Emerald said, waving to the other four. "Why don't we ask the people at the main desk if they could page Raven? It's a brilliant idea, ain't it? Yeah? Yeah?"

"I guess so but…" Brendan started and shook his head. "She probably wouldn't come. She doesn't care if someone pages her name or not."

"Oh… Yeah…"

"By the way," said Flannery, looking at Pearl. "Didn't they just say your name on the intercom?"

Pearl stared at her a quick second before gasping. "Oh, yeah, they did! I'll be back!" she said and began running off, Yellow following her closely behind for some odd reason.

"Hello, Ms. Birch," a woman at the main desk greeted her and motioned over to where several video phones were. "You have a call from someone. The second phone on the left."

"Oh, thank you…" Pearl mumbled quietly and went over to the machine, picking up the phone. "Hello?"

A black haired girl with a white hat appeared on the screen once she picked up the phone. It took Pearl a quick moment to realize who it was…

"Oh! You're, uh, Dawn, Raven's friend, right?"

The girl named Dawn nodded. "Yep, that's me!"

Pearl sat down in the seat in front of the phone and nearly screamed when she saw Yellow standing right behind her. However, she didn't and merely let out a sigh. "Anyways, how did you know I was at this place?"

"Um… well, they're broadcasting the Pokémon League battles all over the world, you know?"

Pearl nodded. "Ah, right… In that case, I guess you saw what just happened, huh?"

Dawn let out a sigh. "Unfortunately. I would imagine that you guys can't find her now, right?"

"…Dawn, are you, like, a psychic or something?" asked Pearl, looking at Dawn strangely.

Dawn let out a laugh, shaking her head. "No, I just figured she would've done that. Believe or not, similar things have happened like this."

"Really?"

"Yep," she answered and seemed to think for a moment. "In fact, it happened just a few days before she moved to Hoenn… I wasn't there to see it, but she told me that she had gotten angry at her parents and ran away from home. No one could find her at all, and Lucas, Jun, and I went to go search for her.

"Eventually we found her, of course. Actually, it was more like she found us; She figured we'd all be looking for her and she, ah, jumped out of the trees and nearly gave the three of us a heart attack."

Both Pearl and Yellow started laughing. "Jumping out of the trees? Sounds just like her," Pearl mumbled.

Dawn nodded. "Yeah… I mean, I guess that when she realizes you guys are looking for her, she'll come out and find you."

"Well… Right now, she's in a bit of trouble with the Pokémon League officials, so I doubt she'd come out of her hiding place…" Pearl said and suddenly gasped, snapping her fingers. "But… wait, I just got an idea! If we were to page her over the intercom… and say that she has a call from her friends in Sinnoh, maybe she'd come out because she really wants to talk them!"

Yellow looked confused. "…Do you think she would actually respond to that?"

Pearl jumped out of her seat, grabbed Yellow by her shoulders and pushed her down in the seat. "Talk to Dawn while I go ask them to do that. I don't care what it takes, just keep talking and don't hang up!" Pearl got extremely close to Yellow, with a rather scary look on her face. "If you stop talking, you'll face a terrible punishment game, got it?"

Yellow nodded, silently wondering what it the world a punishment game was.

Pearl ran off and Yellow turned back to the screen, bowing her head slightly. "Nice to meet you, my name's Yellow."

Within a few minutes, an announcement went out over the intercom paging Raven. Yellow was talking to Dawn, the two apparently having a deep conversation about their favorite kind of food.

And all of a sudden, Raven appeared next to Yellow, neither of the two noticing she was there until she wailed, "Pikari…"

"Hi, Raven…" Dawn said after nearly screaming she suddenly appeared.

Raven leaned over the chair Yellow was in, practically sitting on her lap. "Pikari… Uuuu…"

"Where have you been, huh?" Pearl shouted, walking over to where Raven lay in a depressed heap on Yellow. "You know that everyone's been looking for you, right? Come on, there are people that need to talk to you now!""

Raven turned to the screen. "…Pikari, save me. There's a crazy, evil witch who intends to kidnap and do unspeakable things to me."

Dawn sighed. "Don't say that. Just go with her, will you?"

Pearl had already gone and picked up Raven, somehow managing to hold her underneath her arm as if she were a package. "Now, let's go!"

Pearl began walking off, with Raven dramatically shouting, "Nooooo!"

* * *

"What you did was a clear violation of Pokémon League rules! Not only was your Pokémon under leveled, it went berserk and could have harmed the crowd! Do you understand that?"

Raven tried to hide behind Pearl and not look at the short man with an afro who was currently yelling at her. Steven stood behind him, wearing a worried face as the man continued yelling.

"DO YOU?"

"Y-yes…"

"The doctors did a couple of x-rays on your Pokémon and do you know what they found?"

"…I don't know…"

"There appeared to be several electronic devices implanted in your Pokémon, namely in the brain and heart area! Were you the one who did that? Were you?"

Raven shook her head, trying to hide underneath Pearl's jacket.

"Lies! You did do it, didn't you?"

Steven put his hand on the man's shoulder. "Now, now, sir. I think you're scaring her a bit. Maybe you can be a little calmer?"

"Calmer? CALMER? How can you expect me to be calm when I'm dealing with someone who tests on their own Pokémon?"

"How about you let me ask her the questions instead?" Steven asked. "I'm sure she won't tell you anything if you're going to continue shouting and accusing her of things."

The man narrowed his eyes at Steven and then looked over at Raven and Pearl. "…Very well."

"Thank you," Steven said and stepped forward to the two. "Let's go sit down somewhere, shall we? Do either of you want something to drink?"

Eventually, Raven, Pearl, and Steven were sitting on a couch in a small room, with the Pokémon League advisor standing behind the couch Steven was at, impatiently tapping his arm.

"Well…" Steven began slowly. "Much like he said, they did find small electronic devices inside of Cherrim. Although I highly doubt that you were the one who put them there, I still need to ask. Were you the one who did it?"

Raven shook her head. "No… I'd never do something like that to any Pokémon…"

"LIES!" the Pokémon League official shouted and Raven jumped off the couch, hiding behind it. Steven glared at him and then looked back at the couch where Pearl was shaking her head as Raven continued hiding behind it.

"It's okay. You can come out."

Raven slowly slid back onto the couch, looking down at the ground.

"Alright, onto our next question… Where did you get Cherrim from? Did you bring it with you when you moved from Sinnoh or…"

Raven quickly began shaking her head. "No! One of the nurses at a Pokémon Center gave it to me!"

The League official began to shout "LIES!" again, only to have his mouth covered by Steven's hand.

"…Are you sure?"

This time, Pearl spoke up. "Yeah, she's not lying… I was there when the nurse gave Cherrim to her."

Steven tilted his head to the side. "…Is that so… Hm…"

"…Is something wrong?"

"Well… It's just that… Well…" Steven muttered and rubbed his head. "It's just that Pokémon Center nurses are forbidden from giving someone a Pokémon just like that. Which Pokémon Center was the nurse at?"

Raven looked at Pearl. "…Where was it?"

Pearl sighed. "I think it was the Oldale Pokémon Center… Probably."

"I see…" Steven said and looked back at the official. "Make yourself useful and go contact that Pokémon Center, will you?"

"What? Who do you think you are-"

Steven smiled and said, "Do it now, please. Or, so Arceus help me, I will show you why I'm the Pokémon champion."

The League official ran out of the room faster than you could say Regigigas.

Pearl clasped her hands together. "He's so cool, even when he's threatening people!"

"Sure, Pearl, whatever you say…" Raven muttered. "You and your great taste in men…"

* * *

Later on, Raven was outside the Pokémon League building, tossing Magnemite against the wall of it. Magnemite obediently returned to her every time, a happy, overjoyed look on its face.

"The more Magnemite returns to her, the more I think it's a masochist," Brendan muttered, watching from far away.

"Yeah, well…" Pearl said and winced as Raven threw Magnemite particularly hard into the wall. "…I think it is."

"It is what?"

"A masochist."

Brendan gasped. "Pearl, don't suggest such things."

"You're the one who-… Never mind…"

Yellow came walking over to them, holding a red and blue snow cone. "Look, one of the vendor's was selling snow cones!" she said happily. She looked over at Raven, frowning. "How's Raven doing?"

Brendan and Pearl looked back at Raven, stilling slamming Magnemite against the wall. "Um… bad," they both answered.

Yellow took in a deep breath and nodded slightly before hurrying off over to her. Brendan shouted, "Yellow, stay with us if you want to live! She'll kill you!"

Pearl shook her head. "No, no, Raven wouldn't kill her. She's Yellow."

"Oh, right. Totally forgot."

Yellow finally reached Raven and held her snow cone out to her. "Here! Have some! It's cherry and… some other blue flavor!"

Raven paused Magnemite's torture to glance at her. "…No, I don't want any."

"Eat it!"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

Yellow sighed and sat down next to where she stood, eating the snow cone.

"Besides, who's ever heard of eating snow cones during winter?" Raven grumbled. Yellow shrugged, continuing to eat it.

Meanwhile, Pearl and Brendan were still doing stand-up comedy about Raven. When they spotted Roxanne exiting the Pokémon League building and walking towards them, they quickly quieted down and pretended that they hadn't been talking at all.

"What were you two talking about?" Roxanne asked, narrowing her eyes at them.

"…The lovely weather," Brendan answered with a straight face.

"Yeah, right," she mumbled and pushed back some of her hair. "Anyway, where's Raven? I need to talk to her."

Pearl and Brendan both pointed to where Raven had resumed throwing Magnemite against the wall.

"Why are you letting her do that?" Roxanne shouted. "That's Pokémon abuse!"

"Well, Magnemite seems to highly enjoy it so…" Pearl mumbled. "Another man's pain is another man's pleasure… Or something like that."

Roxanne shook her head. "Anyways… Raven, get over here and stop killing your Pokémon!"

Raven looked up, frowning, but didn't move from her spot. Magnemite returned to her once again after being tossed into the wall.

"Get over here. Now."

Raven's frown became deeper, if that was even possible, as she slowly went over to Roxanne like a dog with its tail between its legs. "…What?"

"Well, Steven talked to that Nurse Joy you mentioned, who said that she never gave Cherrim to anyone. Furthermore, she thought that someone stole it and has been looking for it for quite a long time. Cherrim was supposed to be sent to another region for treatment but then he went missing; a.k.a. he was with you," Roxanne explained. "You didn't steal him, did you?"

"N-no…"

Roxanne began shaking her head again, muttering something. "Anyways, she also said that she was happy."

"Happy? About what?"

"That Cherrim was with a good trainer like you, she said. Apparently, Cherrim was very unsocial and hearing that he was pretty crazy and happy surprised her."

Raven frowned. "…I don't understand. What's wrong with Cherrim?"

"She said that he was apart of a bunch of Pokémon being tested on by some weird organization that closed Pokémon's hearts with darkness, thus making them pretty much emotionless. The region they were going to send him to specialized in technology that could open a Pokémon's heart again."

"I see, I see…" Raven muttered, stroking an imaginary beard. "I never would've guessed that one."

"Neither would the rest of us," Roxanne answered. "Also, she said that that would explain why Cherrim is still at level 25; when their heart gets closed off, they no longer level up or get stronger."

"That's… kind of stupid…" said Pearl. "I mean, were they just trying to close off their heart so they'd be, like, fighting machines?"

"Yeah, I don't know," Roxanne said. "But anyways, the Pokémon League officials are still debating over whether you should be disqualified or not. Some of them are saying, 'It's not her fault, she didn't know!' while the others are saying, 'It is her fault, she should've checked and known about her Pokémon!'"

Raven began frowning again, but still stroking an imaginary beard. "If I got disqualified, Rebecca would take my place, wouldn't she?"

"Well, there's also that. Since she willingly forfeited, they can't really force her to compete if she didn't want to… And typically, they'd like to have four people to compete in the Elite Four challenge, or else things get a bit confusing for them," Roxanne explained. "Well, I guess it's all just a part of luck. Better hope they don't disqualify you."

"…Right…"

Just then the announcer's voice came out over the intercom. "All right, people! After some debate from the Pokémon League officials about whether challenger Raven should be disqualified, they've finally come to a decision!"

Everyone else quieted down, listening intently for the decision made.

"It's been decided… that Raven will proceed to the finals! However, as a penalty, regardless of whether she wins or loses the challenge, she is forbidden from entering any other Pokémon League tournaments for a year!"

"Say what?" Raven shouted. "That's not fair!"

"All right, that's it for our Pokémon League prelims! The challenge will continue next month! The date: February 12th! Be sure to be there, everyone! That's it, from your totally awesome Kazumi Asakura!"

Raven looked over at Pearl. "Now what do we do? The Elite Four challenge doesn't begin until next month. What do we do for a month?"

As a song played by Ho-kago Tea Time began starting, Pearl looked back at her and smiled. "Whatever we want to do."

Raven seemed to think for a moment. "Then… Pearl?

"Yeah?"

"Will you help me go catch some Pokémon?"

Pearl's smile grew. "Sure!"

Brendan began pouting. "That's right, ditch your brother to help someone else."

"Be quiet, I help you out enough as it is," Pearl said, waving her hand at Brendan and directing her attention back at Raven. "Any places in particular you'd like to go to?"

"…Um, no."

Pearl sighed. "You're just expecting me to do all the work, aren't you?"

"Yeah, kinda."


	72. Chapter Seventy One

Author's Notes: Almost done... I swear...

* * *

Chapter Seventy One

One month passed, and soon it was time for the Elite Four challenge to begin. Over that time, Pearl had indeed helped Raven attempt to catch a Pokémon, but they only managed to catch one. Brendan had decided that he'd be using his sister's Pokémon for the remaining four spots left in his party.

It'd also been decided that the Elite Four challenge would begin at night, due to two of the Elite Four members not arriving yet. There also seemed to be new areas set up to the building, athough no one seemed to have noticed when it got there.

"Okay… everyone!" Raven shouted and tossed her Pokémon's Poké Balls into the air. The balls opened up, letting out Piplup, Guru-n, Chao, Magnemite, Pichu, and the new Pokémon Raven had caught, a Snorunt. Cherrim was under the care of the Pokémon Center, and thus wouldn't be participating.

"Today's finally the day!" she shouted loudly. "The Elite Four challenge!"

Chao, Magnemite, and Snorunt began cheering excitedly, while Guru-n began shaking like a leaf and Piplup nodded in determination.

"Um… Well…" Raven continued and began scratching her head, trying to think of what to say. "Let's, uh, do our best!.. That's all!"

"You suck at pep talks," Piplup sighed. "So I'll do one in place of you!" He ran in front of everyone else and faced them, putting his hands… er, flippers, on his sides. "Listen up you cheese puffs!"

Chao clapped her tiny hands. "I like cheese puffs!"

Magnemite made a beeping noises and Chao looked at it in confusion. "Huh? You don't have a mouth, so how can you like cheese puffs if you've never eaten them?"

"Stop it, you two!" Piplup shouted. "You guys _are_ the cheese puffs! Get it?"

"We're all cheese flavored?" Chao shouted. "I never would have guessed!"

"No, no, no!" Piplup shook his head. "Listen to me! We all have to do our best tonight, or it'll come back to bite us in the ass!"

"Yeah, that's one of the side effects of eating cheese puffs," Raven butted in. "They always go to your ass."

Piplup spun around to glare at her. "Be quiet, you! I'm supposed to be doing the talking!"

Raven saluted. "Yes, captain!"

"Anyways, the Elite Four are strong… very strong! We have to face all four of them in a row, taking no breaks… at all!" Piplup said, making a horrible attempt at deepening his voice to set the mood. "Then, if we get through all four of them, we have to face the champion! Do you know why they call him the champion?"

They all looked at one another, no one saying anything. Guru-n timidly raised his hand. "Um, because he's the strongest out of them all?"

"Correct!" Piplup screamed.

"Wait, why is it called the Elite Four if you have to face five of them?" Chao asked, frowning.

"…Good point…" Piplup mumbled. "Anyways! If we lose against any of them, it's game over! All our effort will be wasted! Got that?"

"Yeah!"

"Then… let's do our best and beat them all!"

"YEAH!"

Raven began clapping loudly. "Piplup, I'm inspired by your unmanliness!"

"S-shut up!" Piplup snapped.

Raven heard someone clapping behind her and looked over her shoulder to see a red-haired girl wearing a cap and glasses. "I'm sure you'll all be able to get very far!"

"Oh, thanks!" Raven said and then stared at her for a moment. "…Do I know you?"

The girl grinned. "No, but you know Rald."

"Who is this Rald of who you speak of?"

"Oh, sorry," she said. "Emerald. You know Emerald, right?"

Raven frowned. "Oh, you mean the midget sexist jerk?"

"Uh, yes. But he's not intentionally sexist, really. He's just…" the girl began and tapped her head. "…You know, I can't really come up with a decent excuse for that."

"Okay… So, who are you again?"

"I'm Latias!" the girl answered happily. Raven began laughing hysterically and the girl tilted her head to the side. "Is something funny?"

"What you said…" Raven laughed. "You're… Latias… That's hilarious!"

Piplup looked at Raven in annoyance. "If I recall, that's the exact same thing you told Nami when you first met her, didn't you?"

"I did no such thing."

"But…" the girl interrupted. "I really am Latias! I swear!"

"Prove it!"

The girl frowned and grabbed Raven by her shoulders, moving her to face herself in a certain way. "There. How's that?"

"And how is this supposed to prove… Holy mother of Mareep!" Raven screamed. "You-! How are you-? Why can I…?"

"Quite simple, actually," she said. "I'm simply reflecting the light off my feathers, thus creating the image of a human that everyone else sees. However, if someone should end up seeing me at a certain angle, they can see partially through the reflection and see me… Oh, are you okay?"

Raven was sitting on the ground, holding her head. "You're using… too many… big words… Can't understand…"

"Is that so? Sorry to hear that…" Latias said and then began walking away, waving back at them. "Well, I've got to go find Rald now! See you!"

"Huh… I like her, she's cool!" Piplup said happily and then narrowed his eyes, looking back at Raven. "And on the other hand…"

Raven had recovered from her short moment and began pouting. "Sorry for not meeting your expectations!"

"Now _that_ was a big word for you."

"Leave me alone…"

* * *

Steven frowned as a man with a red Mohawk ran over to him. "Hey, Stevie! Sorry I'm late, ran into a bit of trouble along the way…"

Steven sighed. "It's fine, at least you're here. Now we can finally get to starting the final part of the Pokémon League…"

Steven looked back to where three other people stood nearby, talking to each other, and waved his hand. "Come over here, I need to talk with you guys."

The other three people came over as Steven reached inside his jacket, taking out a sheet of paper. "Now… these four people are the ones we'll be up against."

"Say what…?" the man with the Mohawk grumbled, looking at the pictures of the four trainers. "They're all kids!"

"Exactly. But that doesn't mean you should go easy on them, got it… Sidney?" Steven said, looking up at him in annoyance.

"Hey, hey, don't make it sound like I always do that!"

Steven sighed. "Anyways, while we don't know all the Pokémon they'll be using, it's best to take note of the ones we already know. Now, the one that'd be the easiest to take out would be this one, here… But it's best not to underestimate this one over here… As for this one-"

"Hey, look, it's Steven!" someone shouted and Steven sighed, only to get a look from one of people in the small group.

"I told you not to discuss our strategy in a public place," she muttered.

"Steven, Steven, when is-" the person who called out began, only to be interrupted by Sidney.

"Sorry kid, only challengers are allowed in this area," he said.

The kid looked at him with her mouth wide open and then looked at Steven. "Steven! This guy's mean!"

Steven laughed slightly. "Ah, Sidney, that is one of the challengers…"

Sidney ran back to Steven and looked at the sheet of paper, then back at the girl. "But… what… how…"

"Anyways, Steven!" the girl started again. "How much longer to we have to wait? I'm getting ready to fall asleep, I'm so tired from waiting!"

Steven smiled, putting the back into his jacket. "We should be ready to start now! Why don't you go get the other three while I go notify the officials?"

"Roger!" the girl shouted and saluted, running off.

Sidney was still in a state of shock as Steven began talking once again. "Anyways! Sidney, Phoebe, Glacia, Drake! You guys head to your rooms while I go and do whatever I do, okay? Let's do our best this year too!"

"Yeah!" they all shouted as Steven began walking away. Sidney looked down at a tan skinned girl who was also walking away.

"P-phoebe… How… Why…?"

"Beats me," she said and continued walking away.

* * *

"All right everyone!" an announcer shouted loudly. "It's time for the Elite Four challenge to begin!"

The arena the announcer was in was filled with people, their chatter filling the air. "I'm on the first floor of the arena, while there are four other rooms above us! These will all be where the challenge is taking place… But how, you may wonder, is this going to work out! Quite simple, in fact!

"This first floor will be where our first Elite Four member, Sidney, will battle! The second floor is where Phoebe is, followed by Glacia, Drake, and then Steven! But why, you may ask, are the five floors for this! Again, the answer is simple!

"This year, we have four challengers! We will randomize their order, and that will be the order they battle in! The first trainer in the order will come out to face Sidney! Should they manage to beat him, they will head to the flight of stairs by that wall over there and head up to the second room to battle Phoebe! At the same time, the second person will come out to battle Sidney! Likewise, if they too defeat Sidney, then they'll head up to Phoebe's room! And then the third trainer will come out and… Well, I'm sure you all get it, don't you? Now, please look up towards that screen over there!"

In each arena, two large screens were place on the left and right walls. The screens lit up, displaying the faces of the four trainers taking the Elite Four challenge.

"These are our challengers! From left to right, Brendan, Emerald, Nami, and Raven! Now, let's randomize their order to determine who'll battle first!"

The pictures began moving around the screen, changing their order. The pictures then lined up again, displaying the new order.

"There we have it! The order they'll be battling in starts with Raven, followed by Brendan, Nami, and Emerald! Raven, please get ready to come out to the stadium!"

Back in the waiting room they had for the challengers, Brendan patted Raven's shoulder. "Thank you!" he said happily. "Now, go out there and show me what Pokémon they'll be using! Try not to lose too early in the battle, okay?"

"Awah?" Raven said, looking at him with a horrified expression. "Hau?"

Brendan, Nami, and Emerald all pushed Raven towards the door leading out to the arena. "Get out there!" they shouted and pushed her through the door.

"Go kick some ass!" Nami shouted.

Meanwhile, Brendan and Emerald simply waved at her. "Thanks for going first!~"

Then, Brendan winked, blew a kiss, and said in a extremely feminine voice, "Thanks hun!"

Both he and Emerald began hysterically laughing.


	73. Chapter Seventy Two: VS Elite Four

Author's Notes: Note to self: Never try to shorten important battles into a single chapter. And yet, I did. I'm sorry, I was sort of rushing... Next chapter is the battle against ze champion...

* * *

Chapter Seventy Two

Raven stumbled out into the arena, the crowd cheering and whistling. She looked around quickly; there were lots of people, much more than there had been at the prelims.

"Our first challenger will be Raven! From the information we've gathered, she's from the Sinnoh region, but moved here due to her father becoming a Gym Leader in Hoenn! This here is Petalburg City's own gym leader's daughter! Can you believe that?"

The crowd roared, clapping loudly and many people loudly whistling.

"Despite that, she seems to be the most likely out of all four of our competitors to lose!"

"H-hey!" Raven shouted at the announcer. "Don't say that!"

The announcer waved at her. "Sorry, sorry! Anyways, Sidney, Raven, are you two both ready to battle?"

"Of course!" Sidney shouted loudly, looking right at where Raven stood. "How about you, kid?"

"Ah… yeah, I'm ready too!" Raven responded, nodding quickly.

Both Sidney and Raven reached for and tossed their Poké Balls, letting out their Pokémon at the same time.

"And… it looks like Sidney has chosen Mightyena and Raven has chosen Gallade!"

Up by the doorway of the first stadium, Pearl, Yellow, and Wally all struggled to get a view of the battle, which was rather difficult since the place was crowded.

"Huh? Gallade vs. Mightyena?" Pearl said, hearing the announcer. "Damn it! She'll never win like that! I hope she realizes that Guru-n's Psycho Cut won't work on any of Sidney's Pokémon!"

Yellow nodded. "Yeah… But, you know, it doesn't look like we're gonna get any seats in here, so maybe we should go out to one of the lobbies and watch the T.V.?"

"What? But then we can only watch the one room set on the T.V.!"

Yellow looked confused. "What do you mean?"

As the three backed out of the room and into the hallway. Wally coughed slightly and began talking. "When the Pokémon League is broadcasted on T.V., each channel only broadcasts the battles going on in a certain stadium. Like, channel 2 broadcasts the battle in the first room, while channel 4 has the battles taking place in the second room."

"Ohhh, I see…" Yellow said. "That's… kind of annoying, isn't it?"

"It is, it is."

"Both of you, quit it with your ditzy conversation!" Pearl snapped and looked around. "I'm sure the other rooms are all packed…"

The three of them suddenly froze, getting the feeling that someone was standing behind them. Sure enough, they all looked behind themselves to Harley standing there with a big grin.

"When did you get here?"

"It doesn't matter, does it?" Harley asked and clapped his hands together. "Seems like you three are in a bind, aren't you? Can't find any seats?"

Wally clasped his hands together. "Wait a sec… you mean you got seats for us!"

"I sure did!"

Pearl began shaking her head. "Wait a second… Wally, how did you even guess that?"

"What…? I dunno…"

"Now, now!" Harley said happily and threw his hands in the air. "Come on, let's go! I reserved four seats for us in the room that Steven's battles will take place at!"

Pearl gasped. "What? Seriously? How?"

"It was very hard, I'll tell you that!" Harley said. "I'm telling you, that room is packed with more fan girls than anyone could imagine!"

"Wooow," Yellow said and looked at Wally. "Mr. Steven is really popular, isn't he?"

"Yeah, he is. Not only is he an awesome trainer, he's also a really nice guy and he's handsome!" Wally commented.

"I wish I was handsome like him…"

"Yeah…"

Pearl and Harley were already walking away up a flight of stairs when Yellow and Wally finally noticed they were gone. "W-wait! You guys!"

After making it to the fifth story of the building, the group walked in the room where Steven's battles would be taking place; much like Harley said, the place was crowded with many people, a majority of them female.

Everyone was looking at the screen that displayed the current battle, all of them looking on in shock.

"Hey, what's everyone looking so shocked for?" Pearl asked and Harley shrugged. Someone sitting in front of them turned around.

"The kid battling just now totally beat Sidney in a flash!"

"What? Are you freakin' kidding me?" Pearl yelled and the person scooted slightly away from her.

"Yeah, she only used one Pokémon and one move; Leaf Blade."

Yellow and Wally both looked at Pearl. "…What kind of training did you have her and her Pokémon do?"

Pearl looked away, smiling evilly. "Well, that's a secret, now isn't it…?"

* * *

As the door on the other side of Sidney's arena opened up, Raven and Guru-n hurried by him as the previous door opened up, letting the next challenger through.

The door led to a flight of stairs and a dark, narrow walkway leading up to a small walkway with a sign on the wall: 2F, Phoebe. Another flight of stairs led up to another automatic door, which opened up into another dark room. After a bit of squinting, Raven realized the place _was_ lighted; with purple lights.

A tan skinned girl with two pink flowers in her dark hair stood at the other side of the field. "Hey there! I'm Phoebe! And while you may have defeated Sidney easily, I on the other hand won't lose so quickly! You see, I trained at Mt. Pyre… And while I was there, I gained the ability to communicate with ghost type Pokémon, the type I train. Our bond is tight, so see if you can beat us!"

Raven sighed. "Geez, you talk too much… Okay, Guru-n, go!"

"Mismagius, let's go!"

"Psycho Cut!"

"Ominous Wind!"

Phoebe's Mismagius suddenly appeared out from behind Phoebe, moving its arms as a purple swirl appeared in front of it and Phoebe. The swirl suddenly began blowing wind at where Guru-n and Raven were, both of them shielding themselves from the purple wind.

As soon as it died down, Guru-n crossed his arms in front of himself, the blades expanding and glowing slightly. He ran towards Mismagius, who had moved from behind Phoebe to in front of her. He slashed at the ghost Pokémon, knocking it backwards.

"Mismagius, Shadow Ball!"

"Guru-n, you use Shadow Ball too!"

The two Pokémon both created a black blob in front of themselves, throwing it at each other. The black blobs missed each other by inches, flying towards the targeted Pokémon and exploding once they touched them.

A dark shadow from the explosions covered up the stadium, concealing the two Pokémon. Raven began biting her lip.

"Come on, Guru-n! I know you're fine, you can do it!"

Phoebe also began shouting, "Mismagius, we can beat this kid! Our bond is much stronger than hers! Come on!"

Back in the challenger room, Emerald sighed and shook his head. "These two are acting like its each their final Pokémon. Both Guru-n and Mismagius are their first Pokémon…"

Nami looked at him blankly and then smiled. "Aw, how sweet! I didn't think you were close enough with Raven to call her Pokémon by their nicknames!"

"Wha-? What's being close have do with using a Pokémon's nickname? Wait… We aren't close at all!"

Nami put a finger over her mouth and pointed at the screen. "Shh. The shadow's clearing up!"

The shadow was indeed clearing away… And once it cleared away enough to see the two Pokémon, it was clear which Pokémon had fainted.

"…Mismagius has fainted! Phoebe, please send out your next Pokémon!"

"Sorry, but I've lost this battle already," Phoebe said, returning Mismagius to its Poké Ball. "It was a pact that Raven and I made from the start of the battle… Right, Raven?"

"Yep!" Raven agreed, nodding her head. "Just from that look, Phoebe and I made an agreement… We'd each test our bonds with a single Pokémon! The Pokémon that fainted first, thus the one with the weakest bonds, would have their trainer forfeit the battle… It was a battle to truly test our bonds!"

The announcer for that room looked at the two in shock. "Wait… say things like that first before we start the battle! Rather, what's this "bonds" thing you two keep talking about?"

The two shook their heads and looked at each other.

"That announcer…"

"…just lacks the bonding ability."

And up in the room where Pearl and the other three sat, Pearl was just as annoyed as the announcer was. "Bonds? Seriously? If Guru-n had fainted instead, then Raven would've had to forfeit! That was seriously a risky agreement, since Guru-n is weak against ghost Pokémon!"

The door behind Phoebe opened up and Phoebe nodded. "Go on, Glacia's up next. She, on the other, isn't as bonding friendly as the two of us are… And she's so cruel to me… Anyways, go on…"

Raven nodded, she and Guru-n hurrying off to the door while Phoebe began mumbling about how cruel Glacia was.

As Raven headed up another dark stairway, she thought she felt it getting colder… At least, not until the next door opened up, blasting her with cold air and bright light.

This entire stadium was covered in ice; the floor, the seats, the walls… Not to mention, all the audience members were wearing coats and gloves.

"Holy mother of Mareep, it's cold in here!" Raven whined, hugging herself tightly. "Darn it, I wish I had a jacket!"

A blonde woman in a purple dress stood across from her. "If you think this is cold, then you'll surely be in for a surprise… My Pokémon will show you and your Pokémon what true cold is!" She then narrowed her eyes. "Unlike Phoebe, I'm not going to give up because of an agreement that you two randomly made up. I will use all six of my Pokémon, although I doubt you'll be able to beat the first."

"Don't be so sure of yourself, g-g-granny!" Raven shouted, shivering. "G-g-guru-n! Let's go!"

Glacia coughed as she tried to remain calm, turning red. "I'm only 36... You rude little bra-"

"Come on, granny! Choose a Pokémon!"

Glacia gritted her teeth, hissing, "36, 36, 36...", as she reached for a Poké Ball. "Glalie, let's punish her… We'll give her the coldest treatment we have!"

"Oh, we're doing cold jokes now?" Raven asked excitedly. "In that case… We'll give you the cold shoulder! Guru-n, go ahead! Give her the cold shoulder!"

Guru-n looked back at her in confusion. "What…? I don't know what you're talking about…"

"Okay, you guys!" the announcer shouted. "Feel free to begin!"

"Glalie, Ice Beam!"

"Guru-n, Close Combat!"

Guru-n dashed towards the large ice Pokémon, getting up close and striking it multiple times. He finished off the attack, his arms at his sides and thus leaving a large area open. Glalie shot a blue beam at Guru-n, and since they were both close to each other, Guru-n had no time to move. The beam struck him, leaving him completely frozen.

"Now! Glalie, use Hail!"

Glalie nodded, shooting another blue beam up in the air. Clouds began gathering, and the air became even colder than it already was. Small pieces of ice began falling from the indoor clouds, hitting everyone.

"Guru-n! Hey, get out of the ice!" Raven shouted. Seeing Guru-n completely frozen and not moving, she sighed and returned Guru-n. "Chao, go!"

The Chimecho came out of her Poké Ball happily, floating in front of Raven. "Chao! Use Heal Bell!"

Chao nodded, beginning to sing, or rather, chime a sound. The ringing continued for a few seconds, ending.

"Okay, Extrasensory!"

Chao's eyes began glowing as a rainbow colored beam shot towards Glalie. The large Pokémon got pushed back a bit from the attack, but shook it off.

Glacia smirked. "Glalie, Sheer Cold!"

Glalie release a blast of cold air directed at Chao. The attack passed over both her and Raven, but Chao seemed unaffected by it.

Glacia frowned. "Sheer Cold didn't work…?"

Raven, on the other hand, seemed to be affected by Sheer Cold. "O-o-oh my god, that was freakin' cold! What the Arceus was that!"

Glacia seemed to be thinking hard when she suddenly came upon a reasonable solution. "I see! Chimecho must be of a higher level than Glalie… In that case, Glalie, use Ice Beam!"

Glalie nodded, shooting yet another blue ray at Chao.

"Chao, Grass Knot!"

Grass began sprouting from the ground, reaching up and grabbing Glalie, yanking it down towards the ground. Its Ice Beam moved with it, missing Chao and Raven and running along the wall instead.

Glalie was unmoving on the ground, the grass tangled around it.

"Glalie is unable to battle! Glacia, please send out your next Pokémon!"

* * *

Down in the floors below, Brendan had just defeated Phoebe, which the announcer shouted loudly. Since Raven was still upstairs battling, he walked ahead and waited in the stairway, leaning against the wall and beginning to think.

_Huh… I guess all of us have come pretty far these past couple of months… Raven just happened to move here a day before Pearl and I decided to go traveling, and she totally screwed everything up. Well, I guess it was better to have a third person come along so Pearl wasn't always yelling at me… Yeah, Raven got yelled at all the time instead of me! Hah!…_

_Which reminds me, we met Nami in Petalburg City. She was just starting out her own journey too, wasn't she…? I should ask her about it when it's all over… And Emerald too, I'm kind of curious about him…_

"Raven has beat Glacia! She's now heading up to the fourth floor… And we've already received the news that Brendan beat Phoebe and should be here shortly…"

Brendan sighed, pushing himself off the wall and heading into the cold room awaiting him…

* * *

Raven felt exhausted as she walked up the stairway to the fourth Elite Four member's room… Glacia really had gone all out and did every single thing possible to freeze her and her Pokémon to death. On the plus side, Chao had taken out a majority of her Pokémon with Grass Knot, since they were all reasonably heavy.

She sat down on the steps for a moment, hearing the cheering from the floors above and below. She then stood up, nodded, and headed up the rest of the way, walking out into the next stadium.

…Which was, by far, the stadium that impressed her the most.

There was, of course, the field, which was light blue. However, it was only a circle ring, below it being like an empty bowl. The top was like that too. However, there still managed to be seats, leveled at the same area the field was at.

"Whoa! That's amazing!" Raven said, leaning down to look. Unfortunately, there were no railings, so if she were to fall…

But anyways. An old man wearing a trench coat and a captain's hat was standing across the arena, watching Raven as she continued looking around.

"And would you look at that folks!" the announcer shouted. "Raven, the trainer who seemed to be the most likely to lose has so far come the farthest! Talk about a dark horse! Anyways, Raven will now be facing Drake, a master of dragon type Pokemon!"

The man lifted his cap slightly, still looking at Raven, who'd finally calmed down and was standing at her place. "I am the last of the Pokémon League Elite Four, Drake. You have surprised many of the people watching, Raven, to have come this far. They underestimated you, because you are a child, and because of your choice of Pokémon. However, I can say that I know what that feels like…"

Raven gulped, staring at Drake. "You do?"

"Yes. When I was young, I, too, was small, and typically chose Pokémon that others wouldn't use. However, those Pokémon were my partners, and together we've battled many! And thus, we are here, today, battling…" Drake stopped talking and shook his head. "But enough talking. We shall battle!"

"Um… Right!" Raven shouted.

The crowd cheered loudly as the announcer shouted, "Raven vs. Drake! Let the battle begin!"

Drake reached to his side and tossed a Poké Ball, letting out a green, dragon-like Pokémon with red, goggle-like eyes. "I will start with Flygon!"

Raven hesitated, looking down at the arena. If any of her Pokémon to fall off that…

"O-okay! Go, Snorunt!" Raven shouted, letting out the small, black and yellow Pokémon, who came out with a small jump.

"Flygon, start with gust!"

Flygon flapped its wings and a powerful blast of air struck the two. Snorunt was lifted off the ground and right off the arena; the exact thing Raven feared would happen.

"Ice Beam!"

Snorunt, still airborn, managed to create a ledge to stand on using Ice Beam. However, it was still below the arena, only able to look up and see a small bit of its trainer.

Flygon flew down to the bottom area that Snorunt was at, flying towards it at an amazing speed.

"Snorunt, use Icy Wind!"

Snorunt nodded, hearing its trainer's voice, and blew a gust of cold air at Flygon. The air blasted Flygon, slowing it down slightly. Once again, Snorunt heard its trainer's voice, but only slightly; "Ice Ball!"

Snorunt quickly began making, and tossing balls of ice, each one getting bigger than the other. They all struck Flygon on its head, the other Pokémon clearly becoming irritated from it.

This time, Snorunt heard the echo of Flygon's trainer's voice… "Dragonbreath!"

Flygon blew a blast of green air at Snorunt, knocking it off its ice platform. Once again, Snorunt quickly created another thing of ice to stand on.

It was surprising noisy, and windy, below the arena, and Snorunt now could no longer hear his trainer. Flygon was flying around the large, open area, eyeing Snorunt like it was a tasty piece of meat.

Snorunt began panicking at the thought of being that Pokémon's next meal, looking around hastily. It could make more ice ledges leading back to the top of the arena… But that would take too much time. Flygon was too far away for Snorunt's Ice Beam or Icy Wind to reach…

Snorunt took in a deep breath and blew out another powerful blast of wind in the direction the wind was blowing in. The cold wind flew in that direction, circling around the bottom area until it struck Flygon by surprise. Flygon crashed into the wall, falling down to the bottom of the arena.

This time, Snorunt managed to hear the announcer's voice; "Since we have cameras down there, it seems to appear that Flygon has fainted! Drake, please send out your next Pokémon!"

A red beam came down and returned Flygon. However, Snorunt was still down there… And used this time to begin making ice platforms around the bottom, just in case…

All of a sudden, Snorunt felt itself being returned to its Poké Ball… But at least it made enough platforms in case its teammates fell…

* * *

Brendan raised his hand in the air, shouting a final attack… "Swampert, use Earthquake!" Swampert nodded, taking a giant leap into the air before he crashed onto the floor, creating a powerful quake. Glacia's last Pokémon, a large blue walrus, toppled over, laying unconscious on the ground.

"And Brendan has defeated Glacia! Congratulations!"

Brendan let out a sigh of relief, Swampert running over to stand next to him like an overly obedient dog. The door behind Glacia opened up, and he began walking towards it.

"Good luck on your next battle," Glacia said as he passed by; she was a much nicer person when she was angry.

And yet again, Brendan had to wait in the stairway for Raven to finish her battle. He could hear the announcer for that room's voice - "Look at that, Piplup is skillfully using the ice platforms made by Snorunt to its advantage!" - as well as the announcer below him, beginning to narrate the beginning of Nami's match against Glacia.

And yet again, he had time to begin thinking.

_I'll bet Pearl's screaming at every single thing one of us does incorrectly. She's probably using Wally or Yellow as her rag doll; shaking them and screaming as if they could do something about it. Or maybe she's acting remotely calm… Yeah right._

He heard the announcer's voice yet again. "Emerald has lost the battle against Phoebe!"

Brendan's eyes widened in surprise. He didn't expect Emerald to lose so early… He was probably trying to rush things, getting impatient to catch up with the other three… But then, to lose early on, you'd have to wait another year for the tournament… But he still won his first match, on the other hand.

"Drake is down to his final Pokémon!"

Brendan leaned back against the wall. So far, he'd only used Swampert, Grovyle, and Tropius. He hadn't used the other three Pokémon that Pearl lent him, but they would come in handy in the next battle…

Rumbling sounds were heard from below, followed by a blast from above. All of a sudden, the announcer's voice shouted…

"Nami has lost the battle against Glacia!"

"What?" Brendan shouted and stood up quickly. Emerald just lost a few minutes ago, and now Nami too…? That would mean that only he and Raven were left… The two of them were the final competitors… Thinking about it like that was starting to make him nervous…

"Raven has won her match against Drake!"

Brendan nearly fell down the stairs at that announcement. He really couldn't believe Raven had gotten this far… Well, she still had the champion to beat, but still, to have gotten that far with a Piplup, Gallade, Chimecho, Magnemite, Pichu, and Snorunt… Was she just overly lucky or was it really the strength of her Pokémon? Maybe after it was all over, he could battle her…

The door opened up and he walked out into the arena, catching a glimpse of Raven walking up the stairs to the champion's room. He thought he saw her waving slightly, but the door shut before he could confirm it.

"Now that the other two have lost, you are my final challenger…" the old man said. "Brendan, is it? You are also quite young, like the other girl, but there is a different feel about you… There's a feeling of confidence around you, and determination… I'm sure that we'll also have a grand battle. Are you ready?"

Brendan nodded. "Yep! Let's start!"

"Let the battle between Brendan and Drake… Start!"


	74. Chapter Seventy Three: VS Steven

Author's Notes: What's this, you say? I actually wrote an entire battle scene? Lies!... No, I actually did write an entire battle scene. It was kinda fun, actually.

* * *

Chapter Seventy Three

As Raven headed up the stairs to the final room… The Champion's Room, as a sign on the wall read, she was positive the flights of stairs were even longer than the previous ones. Or maybe that was just her being nervous and thinking that.

Raven never felt this nervous before. She sat down on the steps and took each of her Pokémon's Poké Balls, looking at them…

Piplup, who she received from Professor Birch. Guru-n, who she caught as a Ralts before she reached Petalburg City and who had evolved into a Gallade by coming into contact with Steven Stone. Chao, who she received from her mother. Magnemite, who she caught while they were trying to turn off the generator in New Mauville. Pichu, who she received as an egg Wattson had given them and hatched in the arms of her and Yellow. Snorunt, who she caught with the help of Pearl merely a week ago. All that was missing was Cherrim, who she had received from a nurse… Or so she thought.

Raven gulped. She didn't have anything to heal her Pokémon with… but they should be all right.

She looked towards the door that lead to the final stadium… It didn't look any different from the previous ones. But when she thought about it… There'd be a lot of people in there, all watching her battle. Would she even stand a chance against Steven, the champion?…

Raven stood up, walking towards the door slowly. _Well… Here goes nothing…_

The room was surprisingly normal compared to the previous rooms she'd battled at, with a simple ground arena for them to battle in. Steven stood across from her, looking at her calmly.

"All right everyone! One of our challengers has finally done it; they're now about to battle the champion of the Pokémon, Steven Stone!" the announcer said loudly. The crowd roared, and Raven noticed that many of them were female. She then spotted several people that stood out from the crowd…

All of Hoenn's gym leaders, as well as Wally, Pearl, Yellow, Harley, Nami, Emerald, and a bunch of other people she'd previously met. She began waving at them excitedly; they all waved back.

"Our challenger is Raven, who seemed to be unlikely to win, but has gotten the farthest out of all our trainers! Will she stand a chance against our very own champion? Well, we're about to find out! Steven, Raven, either of you have anything to say?"

Steven nodded. "Well, I do. Many might not know, but I've run into Raven and her friends plenty of times on their journey, and I've been looking forward to seeing you here one day. And so, Raven, I believe this battle will be very interesting."

"Um… yeah!" Raven said and nodded quickly. "I, uh… Well, it's a honor to be able to battle you!"

The crowd cheered and began clapping, while the announcer shouted, "Well, now, let's get started! May the battle between Pokémon trainer Raven and Pokémon League champion Steven start!"

"I'll start with Claydol!" Steven shouted, releasing a large, brown Pokémon with red eyes.

"And I'll use Piplup!" Raven said, letting out her penguin Pokémon.

"Claydol, use Ancient Power!"

"Piplup, use Whirlpool!"

Piplup nodded, quickly beginning to spin around, creating a large whirlpool and tossing it at the slowly moving Claydol. It crashed into the ground, but slowly pulled itself up.

Claydol's eyes began glowing slightly and several chunks of rock began floating momentarily before they flew at Piplup, slamming into him. Piplup didn't seem too hurt from the attack, standing up quickly.

"Use Whirlpool again!"

"And Claydol, use Earthquake!"

Piplup once again made another whirlpool, tossing it at Claydol. This time the giant Pokémon crashed into a nearby wall, and didn't move at all.

"Claydol is unable to battle! Steven, send out your next Pokémon!"

Steven returned Claydol, looking at its Poké Ball for a moment before he reached for his second Poké Ball. "Go, Cradily!"

Raven quickly returned Piplup and sent out another Pokémon instead. "Snorunt, I choose you!"

"Cradily, use Confuse Ray!"

"Snorunt, Ice Beam!"

Cradily's tentacles began glowing an odd color as it swung them side to side. At the same time, Snorunt fired a blue beam at Cradily, slamming into the Pokémon. However, Cradily didn't move from place, although it did seem hurt from the attack.

Snorunt was suddenly stumbling around, apparently confused. Raven reached for Snorunt's Poké Ball, returning it and sending out Guru-n instead.

"Cradily, Ancient Power!"

Similar to how Claydol used the same move, Cradily's eyes began to glow as several rocks moved and were tossed at Guru-n.

"Guru-n, move out of the way!"

Guru-n skillfully began jumping out of the way of the incoming rocks, only a few of them managing to graze him.

"Psycho Cut!"

"Giga Drain!"

Guru-n dashed towards Cradily, slashing at it with the swords on his arms. Several green lights emerged from Cradily, surrounding Guru-n. Guru-n suddenly began looking a tad tired as the lights retreated, but Cradily seemed to look less tired than it already had been.

"Guru-n, return!" Raven shouted, returning Guru-n to his Poké Ball. "And Snorunt, it's your turn again!"

Snorunt came out in turn, no longer stumbling around. "Snorunt, use Ice Beam again!"

Snorunt fired the blue beam once again at Cradily. This time, however, Cradily toppled over from the attack and fell down on the ground, not moving.

"Cradily is unable to battle! Steven, your next Pokémon is…?"

"I'll choose Aggron!" Steven shouted, sending out a large, metal covered Pokémon. "Aggron, use Thunder!"

"Snorunt, use Ice Beam again!"

Aggron began charging electricity and fired a giant thunderbolt at Snorunt. Snorunt fired off an Ice Beam at the same time and the two moves struck the opposite Pokémon at the same time. However, the electricity proved to be too much for Snorunt, who fell over unconscious. Aggron, on the other hand, was still standing.

"Snorunt is unable to battle! Raven, please send out your next Pokémon!"

"I'll use Piplup again!" Raven announced, letting Piplup out of his Poké Ball again. "Piplup, use Whirlpool!"

"Aggron, use Thunder again!"

Aggron fired off another thunderbolt again and Piplup tossed the whirlpool at it. The whirlpool and thunderbolt passed through each other, striking the opposite Pokémon. Aggron toppled over but managed to keep itself up. Piplup also seemed to keep himself standing.

"Once again, Thunder!"

"Use Dig this time, Piplup!"

By the time Aggron's thunderbolt reached Piplup, he was already underground, and popped up underneath the much larger Pokémon, delivering a punch to its face.

"Now, use Whirlpool!"

Being at close range, Piplup's whirlpool crashed into Aggron and it toppled over once again, this time not getting back up.

"Aggron is unable to battle! I think Steven already knows what to do!"

Steven nodded as he sent out his next Pokémon. "Armaldo!"

A large, insect-like Pokémon with sharp claws came out, taking a battle stance as it waited for its trainer's orders. "Armaldo, use Slash!"

"Piplup, use Whirlpool!"

Armaldo was suddenly in front of Piplup and slashed at the tiny penguin Pokémon, tossing him backwards. Piplup didn't get up, clearly unconscious.

"Piplup is unable to battle! Raven, choose your next Pokémon!"

Raven didn't hesitate as she sent out her next Pokémon… "Go, Pichu!"

Naturally, such a choice caused the crowd to start talking to one another about what she was planning.

"Sorry, Pichu, about this!" Raven whispered to the tiny mouse Pokémon, who nodded but said nothing back.

"Armaldo, use Slash again!"

"I'm going to use an item!" Raven announced, reaching in her pocket and pulling out a small, diamond shaped object. She gave it to Piplup, who ate the odd item quickly and seemed to wake up from his unconsciousness.

"Raven has given up a chance for her Pichu to attack in return for using an item! She has used the item revive on her Piplup, who is no longer unconscious and therefore able to battle once again!"

Armaldo was already attacking, and slashed at Pichu. It went without a doubt that the powerful move knocked out the little electric Pokémon.

"Pichu is unable to battle! Raven, send out your next Pokémon!"

"I'll choose Guru-n!" Raven shouted and sent out the Gallade. "Guru-n, use Psycho Cut!"

"Armaldo, use Aerial Ace!"

For some reason, Armaldo seemed to be unable to move as Guru-n attacked it, knocking the Pokémon backwards.

"And again, Psycho Cut!"

Guru-n once again attacked the unmoving Pokémon, this time knocking it unconscious.

Steven returned Armaldo to its Poké Ball. "Now I see what you did… After Armaldo knocked out Piplup and you sent out Pichu, you knew that Pichu wouldn't last against Armaldo, and so you decided to use an item… I, unfortunately, let Armaldo attack Pichu, and Armaldo was paralyzed from Pichu's static ability, am I right?"

"Yes sir, you got that right!" Raven said, nodding her head happily.

Steven nodded slightly and reached for another Poké Ball. "But I won't fall for the same trick twice! Go, Skarmory!"

Raven suddenly returned Guru-n, sending out a different Pokémon again. "Go Magnemite!"

As the little magnet Pokémon appeared in front of Raven, a large, steel covered bird Pokémon appeared in front of Steven.

"Skarmory, use Steel Wing!"

"Magnemite, use Shock Wave!"

Skarmory flew towards Magnemite, its wings hardening as it slammed into it. Magnemite didn't take much damage from the hit, and in turn began charging electricity. The electricity flew towards Skarmory, electrocuting the bird Pokémon and causing it to fall down. However, the Pokémon still seemed able to fight.

"Skarmory, use Spikes!"

"Magnemite, use Shock Wave again!"

Skarmory began flapping its wings and several sharp spikes fell around and underneath Magnemite. However, since Magnemite was floating, it didn't have to touch the spikes at all. Magnemite shot more electricity at Skarmory, electrocuting the bird Pokémon and knocking it unconscious.

Steven returned the bird Pokémon with a smirk. "Well, Raven, you've done quite well. I'm already down to my final Pokémon… I wonder, can you defeat it?"

"I'll bet I can! Send it out, come on!"

Steven nodded and sent out his final Pokémon… "Go, Metagross!"

The familiar blue Pokémon that had nearly caused her to lose her earlier battle against Rebecca came out, watching Raven and Magnemite. Raven frowned and returned Magnemite, sending out another of her Pokémon.

"Go, Piplup!"

Piplup came out of his Poké Ball, unfortunately landing on the spikes that Skarmory had set out. He jumped around, shouting out in pain before he finally managed to not step on them.

"Metagross, use Meteor Mash!"

"Piplup, use Dig!"

Piplup quickly dug underground as the large Pokémon attempted to punch Piplup. Its attack missed the penguin, who was already underground, and Piplup came out underneath the giant metal Pokémon, slamming into it.

"Now! Piplup, use Whirlpool!"

"Meteor Mash!"

The two Pokémon attacked one another, Piplup's whirlpool slamming into Metagross and Metagross's punch slamming into Piplup…

Raven caught the air-born Piplup, seeing that he was still conscious. Water from the whirlpool fell all around them, Metagross seemingly fine…

The giant metal Pokémon suddenly fell down, the ground cracking from the weight of the Pokémon. Metagross was no longer moving… Thus…

"Metagross is unable to battle! Therefore, Steven is out of usable Pokémon! Our newest Pokémon League champion is Raven!"

The crowd roared as loudly as they could. Raven could see people throwing their hats and things in the air, people jumping around clapping… Were they all that happy that she had won…?

That's right… She won. She and her Pokémon had won… She was the new Pokémon League champion?

"Wait a second, now, everyone!" Steven shouted, waving his hands around. "Everyone's still forgetting that we have one more challenger left… I still have one more person to battle!"

The crowd suddenly died down and seemed to be looking at Raven… Or rather, behind her. Raven turned around to see that the door behind her had opened up and Brendan was standing in the doorway, his arms crossed over his chest and a smile on his face.

"That's right, it's still not over yet…" Brendan said and walked over to Raven, patting her shoulder. "If I win my battle against Steven, you and I will have to battle…"

Raven's grip on Piplup tightened. "…That's right…" she mumbled and shook her head. "Good luck! Beat Steven… because I want to battle you too!"

Brendan nodded. "I will. Now… get out of here and face your new fan club! And while you're at it, watch my battle!"

"You bet!" Raven shouted and hurried to the door behind Steven that had opened up, leading out to the hallway…


	75. Chapter Seventy Four: VS Brendan

Author's Notes: I think the next may be the last. Or second to last. I swear.

The battle between Brendan and Raven... Yay. :3

* * *

Chapter Seventy Four

Currently, Raven, Yellow, Wally, Pearl, Nami, Emerald, and Harley sat at a table in the Pokémon Center area eating. A T.V. on the wall displayed Brendan's current battle with Steven. He was already in the lead… Three of Steven's Pokémon were knocked out and zero of his own Pokémon.

"Uuu, I was so hungry…" Raven whined. "That was way more pressure than I would have liked…"

"I can't believe you won, though!" Yellow said happily. "But… You don't seem to happy?"

Raven shook her head. "Nope. I've still got one more battle to go!"

The rest of them looked confused, so Raven explained. "You see, Brendan _is_ going to win this battle. And then, the two of us have to battle to determine the real Pokémon League champion!"

"But… how do you know he's gonna win?" Nami asked.

"Well, he has Pokémon raised by Pearl, who doesn't hold back when it comes to training… Not to mention he has a much better chance than I did at winning. I mean, all of his Pokémon are evolved, unlike most of mine…" Raven explained.

"Yeah, she's right," Emerald commented. He still seemed to be in a bad mood from losing, poking at the food on his plate with a frown.

Pearl patted Raven's head. "I have to compliment you on your usage of Pichu's static ability… Using a turn to revive Piplup in turn for letting Pichu faint yet paralyze the opponent was pretty smart."

"Well, I felt kinda bad that Pichu wouldn't get a chance to battle…" Raven mumbled, chewing on her fingernail. She suddenly looked up towards the screen. "Look!"

The rest of them looked back at the screen where Brendan's Swampert had just knocked out Steven's final Pokémon, which was once again Metagross…

"Brendan has won the battle against the Pokémon League champion!" More cheering and clapping was heard, but the group was still listening to the announcer.

"Such a situation happening during a tournament like this is rare… In the case of which two trainers both defeat the Pokémon League champion, the two will both face off in a final battle to determine the champion!"

"Ah… you were right…" Wally mumbled, glancing at Raven.

"We'll take a half hour break to let the two trainers heal their Pokémon and prepare themselves! Everyone, get ready yourselves… This is gonna be the battle of the year for sure!"

Raven stood up. "I'm… going to go get ready, okay guys?" she said and quickly left.

"Well… She's certainly nervous…" Harley said, watching her hurry away.

"Can you blame her?" Pearl asked. "I mean, she and Brendan are going to battle each other… Hm… Do I cheer for my brother or for my friend?"

* * *

Raven had gotten back her Pokémon from the nurse and once again let them out to talk to them.

"Okay guys… We might've beaten Steven, but we aren't done yet. We still have one last person to battle now…"

"…Who?" Chao asked and Piplup sighed.

"We have to battle Brendan and his Pokémon."

"I-I can't do that!" Guru-n whined and shook his head. "That'd be like I'm fighting my family…"

Raven nodded, letting out a sigh. "I know that. But we've got to do our best. No going easy on them, got it?"

"Yeah!"

"Then let's do this… Yeah!'

"YEAH!"

* * *

The final battle was going to take place in the champion's room again. Both Brendan and Raven had taken their places on the field and stared at each other in determination. The seats were even more packed than they'd previously been, and people were still trying to find somewhere to sit down.

"You know… I had a feeling this was going to happen," Brendan said. He was surprisingly calm, unlike Raven, who was surprisingly not calm. "Although I didn't expect it to happen at the Pokémon League!"

"Um… yeah…" Raven mumbled, fidgeting around. Honestly, she herself hadn't expected it at all. Heck, she didn't expect herself to even beat any of the Elite Four. But now, here she was, getting ready to battle her friend, and they both had defeated the champion.

"I'm not going easy on you, you know," Brendan smirked. "And straighten up. You fidgeting around like that is way out of character for you. Are you a man, or aren't you?"

Raven suddenly stopped and nodded. "I AM A MAN!"

Brendan laughed. "Yeah, yeah…"

The announcer was finally there and, after fixing her microphone, was ready to start being annoying. "Alright people! We thought we weren't going to have any more battles tonight, but a sudden twist of events has us with two Pokémon league champions! However, only one of them can be the true champion, and so the two will face off in a battle! Are you two both ready?"

"Yeah!" the two answered.

"In that case… May the final battle between Pokémon trainers Brendan and Raven begin!"

Brendan tossed a Poké Ball. "Go, Aggron!"

"I choose you, Guru-n!"

The two Pokémon came out, standing in front of their trainers.

"Guru-n, use Close Combat!"

"And Aggron, use Earthquake!"

Guru-n began dashing towards Aggron, who slammed down on the ground, shaking it. Guru-n fell down, but quickly rolled over and continued running towards Aggron. He then threw multiple attacks at the Pokémon, knocking it down. Aggron, however, managed to push itself up despite the super-effective attack.

"Guru-n! Jump away from it and use Shadow Ball!"

"Aggron, use Water Pulse!"

Aggron opened up its mouth, sending out several water rings at Guru-n, who had created a dark ball already and threw it at Aggron. The two attacks slammed into the opposite Pokémon, knocking them down. However, Aggron didn't get back up.

"Aggron is unable to battle! Brendan, your next Pokémon!"

Brendan nodded, throwing another Poké Ball. "Go Tropius!"

The long-necked Pokémon with large, leaf-like wings came out, swinging its head around gracefully.

"Tropius, Aerial Ace!"

"Guru-n, Psycho Cut!"

Tropius proved to be the faster of the two as it flew towards Guru-n, slashing him with its wings. Guru-n stumbled but managed to slash back at Tropius.

"Guru-n, return!" Raven shouted, returning Guru-n. "Magnemite, I choose you! Use Shock Wave!"

The little Pokémon came out, already charging the electric move. It shot the electricity at Tropius, who suddenly jumped in the air and began flying around above Tropius. Tropius then dropped from the air suddenly, landing on Magnemite. When it moved away from Magnemite, the Pokémon quickly covered itself in electricity and charged at Tropius, shocking the Pokémon.

Tropius then stomped on Magnemite, and once it removed its foot, it was clear the Pokémon was unconscious.

"Magnemite is unable to battle! Raven, send out your next Pokémon!"

"Go, Snorunt! And use Ice Beam!"

"Tropius, use Razor Leaf!"

As Tropius flapped its wings and sent out several sharp leaves flying towards Snorunt, Snorunt fired the usual blue beam at the Pokémon. The beam was faster, and slammed into Tropius, causing it to fall over. The leaves then came and slashed Snorunt, but it was still standing.

"Tropius is unable to battle! Brendan, your next Pokémon please!"

Brendan threw another Poké Ball. "Go, Magcargo!" he shouted, sending out a red, snail-like Pokémon.

"Return, Snorunt!" Raven ordered, recalling the Pokémon and sending out another one. "Go, Piplup!"

"Magcargo, use Rock Slide!"

"Piplup, use Whirlpool!"

Magcargo slammed itself into the ground, sending a flurry of rocks at Piplup. While the rocks did hit Piplup, he still managed to start making a whirlpool and sent it at Magcargo. The Pokémon seemed to be in pain from the water on it, but it wasn't unconscious.

"Return, Magcargo!" Brendan shouted, bringing the Pokémon back. "Grovyle, go!"

As the familiar green Pokémon came out, Piplup narrowed his eyes. "So…"

"We finally meet in battle…" Grovyle finished, glaring back at Piplup.

"Grovyle, Leaf Blade!"

"Piplup, Drill Peck!"

The two Pokémon dashed towards each other at an incredible speed. Piplup struck Grovyle first, but Grovyle retaliated by slashing Piplup with the leaves on his arms. The two Pokémon were both injured from the attacks, but continued glaring at each other.

"Leaf Blade again!"

"Drill Peck again!"

The two attacked each other once again with the same moves. Their attacks were even stronger than before and the two were both sent flying backwards. When neither moved, it was clear it was a double knockout.

"Both Piplup and Grovyle are unable to battle! Both of you, your next Pokémon!"

"I'll choose Magcargo again!" Brendan said, sending it out.

"And I'll go with Chao!" Raven said, also sending her Pokémon out.

"Magcargo, use Flamethrower!"

"I'm going to use an item!" Raven shouted. Much like she had done in her previous match against Steven, she reached into her pocket for the diamond shaped medicine, which she fed to Piplup.

Magcargo blew a powerful flame at Chao, burning the little Pokémon badly.

"Where are you getting all those revives from?" Brendan asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I've been finding them all around while we were traveling around," she answered. "I never found a decent time to use them until now!"

"Huh… so all that time, you weren't just being a lazy person, were you?" Brendan said and shook his head. "Magcargo, Flamethrower!"

"Chao, use Psychic!"

Chao was faster than the fire Pokémon, sending it flying backwards into a wall. However, it didn't get back up, now unconscious.

"Magcargo is unable to battle! Brendan, your next Pokémon!"

"That's right… I'm on my last Pokémon…" Brendan mumbled. "However, he may be my last, but he's definitely my strongest! Swampert, go!"

He sent out the water Pokémon that'd been there since day one: cracking jokes, not understanding things, being an overall pain in the butt.

"Swampert, use Hammer Arm!"

"Chao, Grass Knot!"

As grass sprouted from the ground and pulled Swampert down, he slammed his arm down on Chao, knocking her unconscious with the blow.

"Chimecho is unable to battle! Raven, your next Pokémon!"

"Go, Pichu!" she shouted, sending out the electric mouse. "Quick Attack!"

"Swampert, use Earthquake!"

Pichu managed to attack first, running up to Swampert and tackling him. The attack barely hurt Swampert, who proceed to slam his arm down on the ground, making an earthquake that knocked the electric Pokémon unconscious.

"Pichu is unable to battle! Raven, please send out your next Pokémon!"

Raven bit her lip as she sent out her next Pokémon. "Snorunt, go! Use Blizzard!"

"Swampert, use Earthquake again!"

Swampert moved faster than the ice Pokémon, shaking the ground again and managing to knock out Snorunt.

"Snorunt is unable to battle! Raven, please send out your next Pokémon!"

In less than 5 minutes, Swampert had knocked out three of Raven's Pokémon. Magnemite was also unconscious, leaving her with only two Pokémon left…

"Go, Guru-n! Use Leaf Blade!"

"And again, Earthquake!"

Guru-n managed to attack Swampert first, slashing at him quickly. Swampert stumbled back, but suddenly stomped on the ground, causing another earthquake. Unlike the previous times, however, Guru-n wasn't knocked out from the hit.

"Guru-n, Close Combat!"

"Swampert, use Surf!"

Guru-n rushed up to Swampert, attacking him multiple times before stopping, leaving himself wide open for an attack. Swampert raised his arms in the arm, water cracking out from underneath him and swamping the entire arena, taking Guru-n with it.

"You know…" Raven mumbled as the water slammed into her Pokémon. "How is water coming out of the ground if we're on the fifth story of a building?"

"…Good point…" Swampert mumbled. Guru-n wasn't moving anymore, laying in the water.

"Gallade is unable to battle! Raven, please send out your last Pokémon!"

"Oh, crap…" Raven muttered and sent Piplup. "Piplup, you're the last one, and so is Swampert! We can do this, come on!"

"Both trainers are on their final Pokémon!" the announcer shouted. "Who will win this battle, I wonder?"

"Piplup, use Whirlpool, followed up by Drill Peck!" Raven shouted. Piplup began spinning towards Swampert while making the whirlpool.

"Swampert, break the whirlpool with Hammer Arm, and then protect yourself!"

Everything almost seemed to happen in slow motion. As Piplup tossed the whirlpool and began running towards it to attack Swampert with Drill Peck, Swampert swung his arm at the whirlpool. The whirlpool almost seemed to explode, water flying everywhere.

Swampert quickly crossed his arm in front of himself as he awaited Piplup's attack, when Piplup suddenly burst through the wall of water. No one could see them at all…

Swampert moved his left arm slightly, leaving the area Piplup was going to strike open. The spinning penguin struck the area, knocking over the much larger Pokémon.

Once all the water from the broken whirlpool had finished falling, everyone could see the two Pokémon… And then, it was clear who'd won the battle.

"It's hard to see but… It appears as though Swampert has fainted! That means… Does everyone know what this means?"

Everyone in the crowd jumped up and began cheering loudly.

"The winner of this battle… and the true champion of the Pokémon League… is Raven, from Littleroot Town! Congratulations!"

"…Huh?" Raven asked in confusion. "What?"

Piplup ran towards her excitedly, jumping into her arms. "R-raven! We did it! W-we…"

The rest of her Pokémon came out of their Poké Balls, and despite their injuries, hugged their trainer tightly.

"We did it! We won!"

"W-won?" Raven asked, looking at them all in disbelief. "W-we won? R-really, huh? That's good… I… I can't believe it…"

She suddenly toppled over, her Pokémon catching her. "Whoa! Raven?"

Brendan, who was helping Swampert sit up, looked across at them and smiled. "She's probably exhausted. Come on, I'll bring everyone to the nurse's area, okay?"

Her Pokémon nodded and, together with Brendan and Swampert, walked out of stadium…


	76. Epilogue

Author's Notes: ...This is it. The final chapter. Nearly two years after starting it, I've finished it. I've had the ending played out in my head forever, but it didn't quite come out here the way it was in my head. I think it's okay, though.

Now. A few things I have to say.

As sad as it may seem, this is the very first time I've ever finished something. That's right, I've never finished anything I've started. So, finishing this feels like a big accomplishment for me. I'm really proud of myself.

Also, thanks to everyone who read and reviewed this story.

Anyways... Onwards, with the final chapter. Also, I have some news at the end of the chapter, so be sure to catch it, okay? :3

* * *

Epilogue

_Thump…_

Raven slowly opened her eyes after hearing an odd thumping noise. She rubbed her eyes and sat up… Oh? She was in a bed in what appeared to be the nurse's office. And… there was a piece of paper on the floor. There was an arrow, pointing towards the doorway where she could see another piece of paper.

What? Was she supposed to follow the arrows? Assuming so, she got out of the bed and followed the arrows.

It still appeared to be nighttime. It was dark everywhere, even out in the hallways. It was odd, because it was the Pokémon League building she was in.

…That's right. The Pokémon League. She was participating in it, wasn't she? Ah, what had happened? Did she get hurt and ended up in the nurse's office?

…No, that's not it. She won her battle against Brendan… She was the Pokémon League champion now, wasn't she?

She was still following the arrows, which lead all the way outside. Even out there, there were arrows, pointing to around the building and…

All of a sudden, there were a bunch of bright lights, popping noises, and…

"Happy birthday!"

Balloons were everywhere, along with tables, and a stage… What the heck was going on?

"Hey! Raven!"

Someone waved in front of her face and she blinked. Brendan, Pearl, and Yellow were standing around her… As well as many other people. Hoenn's gym leaders… Hoenn's Battle Frontier… Nami, Emerald, Wally, and Harley… Her mother, Professor Birch, the Pokémon Rangers… And a bunch of other people she didn't even know.

"What…?"

"Today's your birthday, Raven," Brendan said. "February 13th… the day after the Pokémon League tournament. What, don't tell me you forgot?"

"Oh, yeah… Today's my birthday, isn't it?" she exclaimed and looked around excitedly. "Today's my birthday!"

"Yep!" Pearl said happily. "You turn 13 today, don't you?"

"Yeah… No, wait!" Raven shouted and stepped away from Brendan and Pearl. "I, uh, I'm not…"

The two both rolled her eyes. "Yeah, we already know. You've been letting us go around thinking you were already 13. You know, you didn't have to lie about your age. A year difference isn't going to hurt anybody."

"Yeah," Brendan added. "Besides, I knew you couldn't possibly be older than me!"

"Considering that you were 12 at the time of becoming the Pokémon League champion…" Wallace said, walking over to her and patting her head. "That would make you the younger Hoenn Pokémon League champion! Not the youngest out of all the champions, though… That title is held by a trainer from Kanto."

"But anyways…" Yellow said and hugged Raven tightly. "Happy birthday, Raven!"

Raven smiled sheepishly. "T-thanks… But, why are you throwing a party…?"

"Well, we were initially setting everything up for the awards ceremony when we happened to overhear someone mentioning that your birthday would be today…" Wallace explained. "And so I thought, 'Hey, let's make it a birthday party!' And thus, here we are!"

Winona sighed. "Wallace is very… How would I put it… Unwilling to let anyone not have a birthday party."

"Ah… I see…" Raven mumbled.

"Well, now that we've nearly given you a heart attack…" Steven said, walking over to where the stage set up was. "Raven, Brendan, Emerald, and Nami. Please come up here on the stage with me."

The four hurried over to stand on the stage in a line. Behind them stood the gym leaders and the Elite Four, also in a line, and Steven stood in front of them, adjusting the microphone.

"Well, today marks the end of this year's Pokémon League. We've had many great trainers this year, as we always do, but this year was particularly special. The four who stand behind me are the youngest trainers to ever challenge the Elite Four. Since they each defeated one member of the Elite Four, they are all given the chance to become members of the Elite Four, and thus participate in next year's tournament," Steven said. He looked behind himself and at the group of four. "How about it? Will you guys accept the offer?"

The four looked at one another, each with a smile on their face, all of them having the same answer.

"No, thank you!"

Steven looked surprised. "Is that so… Well, regardless, this year's champion will be recorded into the Hall of Fame, where the names of the trainers and the names of their partners go! I will now announce the names right now…"

Steven motioned at Raven, who nervously stepped forward. "This here is Raven, who has traveled from Littleroot Town all the way here! Along the way, she and her Pokémon faced many challenges, all of which they overcame! They challenged the gym leaders and defeated them, allowing them to take part in the Pokémon League! And while we're at it, gym leaders, do any of you have anything to say to our new champion?"

Roxanne stepped forward. "I have something to say, if you don't mind," she said. "Well, when Raven first challenged my gym, she was a naïve, stupid little girl… And she still is, but not as much. However, when I look at her now…" Roxanne paused and looked at Raven. "I no longer see her as a naïve or stupid child. Of course, I don't see her quite on the same level as me, but… You've done well, Raven. Good job."

Everyone in the crowd began clapping while Raven scratched the back of her head, laughing sheepishly.

Norman also stepped forward to speak. "Well… many may not know, nor see it, but Raven is my daughter. And seeing her get this far is, well… a little sad, but in a good way." Norman reached out and patted Raven's head. "Good job, kiddo. I'm proud of you."

The crowd cheered once again and Steven began talking. "Continuing on with the names... Raven traveled with her trusted partners, Piplup, Guru-n the Gallade, Cherrim, Chao the Chimecho, Pichu, Magnemite, and Snorunt. You guys, I congratulate you. You've done well! Well… I think that's it. To end this year's Pokémon League tournament, we'll have this year's band play a couple of songs… Ho-kago Tea Time, please come up here and make preparations!"

As everyone else got off the stage, Robin came out of the crowd and hugged Raven tightly. "Good job, Raven. I'm really proud of you. It's obvious you got your battling skills from me, not your father."

"H-hey!" Norman argued, coming up behind his daughter. "That's not true!"

Raven escaped her mother's hug and hurried off to the beach, where her friends were waiting. Pearl was there to pat her head like several other people had done.

"Congratulations, Raven!" she said.

Brendan nodded. "Yeah, like Pearl said, congrats."

"Raven!"

Raven looked over to see her Pokémon running towards her happily. Cherrim was also with them as they all began hugging her tightly.

"Hey, guys, you're all okay, right?" she asked and they all nodded.

The band began playing their music, which the Pokémon all seemed to enjoy greatly.

Yellow suddenly looked out towards the ocean. "Hey… guys…?"

"What's wrong?" Raven asked, looking out at the ocean as well.

"What's that? Flying over there? No… it's actually flying towards us! What _is_ that?"

Everyone, including the band, stopped to look at the incoming flying object. As the object got closer, it was clear that it was a Pokémon…

The Pokémon flew over the island before turning and flying south. However, despite it's quick appearance, just about everyone knew what Pokémon it was.

"That Pokémon just now…" Emerald began. "It was…

"Yep!" Raven said and nodded happily. "It was definitely him!"

"Oh, so now it has a gender, does it?" Brendan asked.

"Yep. It's obvious that Rayquaza is male, isn't it?"

"Uh…"

"Sure?"

Raven shook her head. "You people just don't understand…"

* * *

Later that same day, several ships were picking up people and leaving the island. Of course, our gang (which consisted of the usual people: Raven, Brendan, Pearl, Yellow, Wally, Emerald, Nami, and Harley) was leaving on one of those boats.

"So, how about we ride our bikes all the back to Littleroot?" Pearl suggested.

"Who said I had a bike?" Raven asked.

"Oh, sorry. Happy birthday, here's an invisible bike!~"

"…Shut up."

However, they all laughed.

The ship dropped them off at Slateport City, and they decided to walk all the way to Mauville City. They rented some bikes from a man who was way too willing to give them bikes. And then, they rode the bikes to Verdanturf Town.

That was where Wally left them. He had changed a lot… From a sickly kid to someone who awakened Rayquaza and challenged the Pokémon League.

They rode their bikes through Rusturf Tunnel and to Rustboro City, where they stopped momentarily to say hello to the president of Devon Corporation.

Then they rode their bikes through Petalburg Woods… And managed to get lost, just like Raven, Brendan, and Pearl had done before.

Before they reached Petalburg, they stopped to say hello to Mr. Briney and Peeko, the latter who still enjoyed sitting on Raven's head. Mr. Briney told them that recently he'd been hired to be the captain of the S.S. Tidal, and invited them to take a ride anytime they wanted.

They reached Petalburg City, where Nami, Harley, and Emerald left them.

Nami hadn't changed too much. She still loved Raven, and never hesitated to state that, but not to extreme that she used to be at. She did, however, kiss Raven on the forehead before they left the city.

And while they hadn't known Harley and Emerald for too long, they did get their PokéNav numbers, so they could stay in touch.

From there, it was just a simple ride back through Oldale Town and into Littleroot.

Littleroot felt a little different now. There was a nostalgic feel about it… And it felt as if they hadn't been there in a long time.

And they stopped in front of their houses, right next to each other. Yellow seemed to be living at Raven's house now… But anyways. The four all put their bikes on the side of Raven's home before they walked inside the house.

Professor Birch was already there, sitting at their kitchen table with a live Lotad on his head. Robin was putting candles on a cake, which she then brought over to the table. Norman was also sitting at the table, laughing at the Lotad on his friend's head.

"We're back!" Raven announced.

"…We can see that," Norman laughed, and motioned towards the table. "Come on, sit down. Your mother made a cake for you, we're getting ready to light the candles on it."

The four all sat down at the table as Robin lit the candles. They sang happy birthday, and Raven blew out the candles…

They'd all completed their goals… And they were back home.

* * *

*sniffs* That's it... I really can't believe I've done it...

And the news I have... Well that would be...

I'M WRITING A SEQUEL!~~

...Yeah, no one cares. But I'm still writing it anyways.

What can I tell you about it? Well... It takes place in Sinnoh... And at the Battle Frontier! Yaaaaayyyyy.

The End.


End file.
